Key Insights:
- BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes just sold 96,000 Hyperliquid crypto, after predicting the token would rally 126x
- Hayes cited an impending $500 million monthly token unlock as his chief reason for exiting
- The sale netted Hayes a profit of roughly $823,000 (a 19% gain), which he joked would go towards a Ferrari Testarossa deposit; the move triggered an immediate ~8% dip in HYPE’s price.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes knows exactly how to make headlines and how to cash out before everyone else realizes they’re late to the party.
Three weeks ago, Hayes stood on the virtual Crypto Twitter stage predicting Hyperliquid (HYPE) crypto would rally 126 times its price over the next three years.
Fast forward to this weekend, and Hayes had just unloaded his entire stack: 96,600 Hyperliquid crypto, worth a cool $5.1 million.
And if Hayes’ timing looks suspect to traders, he doesn’t seem to care, posting with trademark flair:
“Need to pay my deposit on the new Rari 849 Testarossa,”
He turned an $823,000 profit in about a month and threw a little Ferrari into the mix for good measure. But why sell HYPE now after making such bullish predictions straight in the faces of the most plugged-in traders around?
Is Hayes’ “long-term thesis” all talk, or is there more to his swing-for-the-fences style?
Arthur Hayes Dumps Hyperliquid Crypto After Bullish Prediction
On-chain sleuths wasted no time in dissecting the wallet moves of Arthur Hayes. Lookonchain recently revealed the Hyperliquid crypto transactions of Hayes, and the market instantly felt the tremor.
HYPE price dropped over 8% following the sell, slipping below $50 just hours later.
This is anything but unusual for Arthur Hayes. Just last month, he liquidated over 2,300 ETH, worth $8.3 million, right after touting a $10K price target for Ethereum.
And in true trading fashion, he bought back later, leaving followers and critics alike scrambling to interpret the dance.
Hayes has been upfront about his strategy: lock in short-term profits even if the bigger picture remains unchanged.
Does he believe Hyperliquid can eventually justify astronomical fees and price tags? Absolutely.
He recently argued that as fiat debasement accelerates, demand for stablecoins will pump decentralized trading venues like Hyperliquid to stratospheric annualized revenues.
The casino, in Hayes’ words, isn’t closing; he just isn’t always going all-in every hand.
Reasons Behind Hyperliquid Selloff
The actual liquidating move was timed just as Binance founder CZ jumped onto X to champion Aster, a direct rival to Hyperliquid.
Suddenly, market attention began to fragment, and Hyperliquid crypto, despite its technical edge and impressive run-up, found itself facing a fresh bout of competition.
In Hayes’ Maelstrom blog post, he pointed to precisely this shift in market dynamics. New buying pressure?
Sure. But also a whole wave of new supply set to vest: almost 238 million HYPE token will unlock monthly over the next two years; a potential $500 million per month dilution, easily swamping demand.
Add technicals into the equation: as HYPE fell below support, its MACD flashed bearish, its RSI dropped towards oversold territory, and volumes surged, with sellers dominating the tape.
Short-term, says Hayes, it’s simply prudent to step aside and let the market digest.
The Trader’s Playbook: Conviction and Cashouts
Arthur Hayes isn’t in the habit of hanging out in losing trades. His public persona might scream “diamond hands,” but in practice, he’s always nimble, which is further evidenced by his Hyperliquid crypto dump.
For Hayes, there’s no conflict between pitching a moonshot and taking the profit that gets left on the table before the narrative turns sour.
Crypto Twitter, as ever, is divided: some point to the “Hayes Indicator.” If Arthur starts selling, maybe retail should look out below; others see the move as classic risk management, especially in a market as fast-moving and sentiment-driven as DeFi tokens.
There’s also a familiar pattern: Hayes makes a big call, rides the wave, books the win, and then publishes long, often philosophical blog posts about “why we dumped.”
It’s never just one reason. There’s talk of macro risk, technical structure, market psychology, and, if his X feed is to be believed, a taste for fine automobiles.
Is Arthur Hayes still bullish for the next three years? Sure, if the numbers line up.
Will he always take the win and rotate capital when market conditions shift? Absolutely, and he’s made a career (and a fortune) out of it.
Crypto changes fast. If the BitMEX co-founder swaps tokens for Testarossas, one thing is for sure: it pays to watch his moves, at least as carefully as his X posts.
Meanwhile, his recent HYPE token dump has triggered a massive selloff in the asset’s price. During writing, Hyperliquid crypto price fell nearly 8% to $49.21, reflecting the cautious investors’ stance.