From Shouting 150 Dollars to Liquidating HYPE in Just Three Days, How Much Credibility Does Arthur Hayes Have Left?
How much of Arthur Hayes's market credibility remains? Recently, the "godfather of crypto perpetual swaps" and BitMEX co-founder has faced public criticism, including accusations from on-chain investigator ZachXBT about creating exit liquidity for his followers.
Starting last week, Hayes executed multiple sudden sell-offs. He had repeatedly publicly predicted the HYPE token would reach $150. After a $100,000 bet defending Hyperliquid on June 1st, he announced just three days later that he had completely sold his HYPE and NEAR holdings, successfully exiting near the peak. He also sold ZEC and WLD.
His sale of WLD appeared to be a classic "pump and dump" maneuver. On June 3rd, he publicly set a $10 target for WLD, causing its price to surge over 35%. By June 6th, he announced he had sold his WLD, citing "anomalous" SpaceX pre-IPO price action, which triggered a sharp price drop.
On June 9th, Hayes published a lengthy article explaining his actions, citing factors like rising energy costs and a potential AI bubble burst. Consequently, his family office, Maelstrom, now holds positions in US energy producers and only core crypto assets BTC and ETH, having sold AI-related stocks and non-core cryptocurrencies.
This pattern is not new. In 2025, he similarly touted HYPE before selling it at what turned out to be a cycle peak, only to repurchase it at the next cycle's low. Similar scenarios played out with tokens like ETHFI and ENA.
Long-term observers have developed a strategy: ignore Hayes's public statements but closely monitor his on-chain actions—be cautious following his buys, but decisively follow his sells. If he continues these tactics, especially as seen with the WLD case, his market credibility risks being permanently damaged. As Hayes himself admitted in his latest article, "I remain an unapologetic gambler."
marsbit06/09 10:01
