- Arthur Hayes sold his entire HYPE stash for a $823K profit, citing a Ferrari deposit.
- Looming $11.9B in HYPE token unlocks could flood the market with $500M monthly supply.
- Maelstrom report warned Hyperliquid faces its “first true test” as competition intensifies.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has stunned the crypto community after selling his entire stash of Hyperliquid’s native token HYPE, just weeks after publicly predicting that it could surge 126x over the next three years.
On Sunday, Hayes confirmed on X that he had sold his holdings, joking that he needed to “cover the deposit” for a Ferrari 849 Testarossa.
Sudden Reversal
Blockchain data platform Lookonchain reported that Hayes sold 96,628 HYPE, banking around $823,000 in profit, a 19.2% gain according to HypurrScan. At the time, HYPE was trading at $49.48, down more than 9% over the past 24 hours, though still up a staggering 1400% in the past year, as per CoinMarketCap data.
The sale comes as Hyperliquid, the decentralized derivatives exchange behind HYPE, has seen usage explode. Monthly trading volume jumped from $560 million in early August to $3.4 billion by August 24, according to DeFiLlama.
Related: Trump Policies Could Extend Asset Rally, Arthur Hayes Says as BTC Steadies
Why Hayes Dumped
While Hayes framed the sale in lighthearted terms, he later revealed deeper reasoning tied to looming token unlocks. In a follow-up post, he linked to a research note from Maelstrom, his own family office.
“This is why we dumped $HYPE today. But don’t worry 126x is still possible — 2028 is a long way off.”
The report warns that beginning November 29, a massive 237.8 million HYPE will start vesting across 24 months. At today’s prices, that equals $11.9 billion in supply, with nearly $500 million set to unlock each month.
Hyperliquid’s buyback program is estimated to absorb only 17% of that flow, leaving more than $400 million in monthly sell pressure hanging over the market.
The report also flagged growing competition. Rivals include heavyweight exchanges and newer entrants like Lighter.xyz, while former Binance chief CZ has openly backed competitor Aster.
Can DATs Soften the Blow?
Some relief may come from Decentralized Autonomous Treasuries (DATs). The largest, Sonnet, is expected to close in Q4 2025, having raised roughly $583 million in HYPE and $305 million in cash.
Still, the Maelstrom report cautioned that even Sonnet and other DATs combined are “just a drop in the bucket” compared to the looming unlocks.
Hayes Still Bullish Long-Term
Despite the selloff, Hayes remains bullish on HYPE’s long-term trajectory. At Tokyo’s WebX 2025, he argued that fiat debasement and the rise of stablecoin markets could propel Hyperliquid’s annualized fees from $1.2 billion today to $255 billion by 2028; a scenario that, in his view, supports a potential 126x move.
For now, Hayes hasn’t said whether he plans to re-enter. But his playbook is familiar; earlier this year, he sold his entire Ethena (ENA) position only to buy back at lower levels.
Related: Hayes backs ether.fi restaking as dashboard proves ARR leap from $18M to $80M
Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is for informational and educational purposes only. The article does not constitute financial advice or advice of any kind. Coin Edition is not responsible for any losses incurred as a result of the utilization of content, products, or services mentioned. Readers are advised to exercise caution before taking any action related to the company.
Source: https://coinedition.com/arthur-hayes-exits-hype-position-weeks-after-predicting-126x-surge/