Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of crypto exchange BitMEX, has offloaded more than $13 million worth of crypto holdings, including ether (ETH), ethena (ENA), and pepe (PEPE).
Data from Arkham Intelligence shows Hayes sold millions worth of these cryptocurrencies and moved to accumulate USDC, with the stablecoin now making up over 80% of the $27.9 million in the address associated with him.
The address sold 2,373 ETH worth $8.32 million, 7.76 million ENA valued at $4.62 million, and 38.86 billion PEPE for $414,700. In a post on X, he seemingly confirmed he is behind the address and pointed to a bearish scenario for the crypto space.
Hayes suggested that markets will take a hit from the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, some of which came into effect on Aug. 1 and others are coming on Aug. 7, which affect key trading partners.
Combined with a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report, he argued that no major economy is expanding credit fast enough to boost nominal GDP. Against this backdrop, he predicted bitcoin could “test $100K” while ether will revisit $3,000.
The crypto market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index, lost more than 7.5% of its value over the past week as rate cut hopes faded. Bitcoin outperformed the wider market with a 3.9% drop, and is now standing at $113,500.
Similarly, Ether saw a 6.5% drop in the same period and now trades at $3,500. While rate cut hopes dimmed on Friday, later in the session they surged after the labor market showed signs of weakness. Polymarket traders are now weighing a 70% chance of a rate cut in September.
The market is also dropping as tensions between the U.S. and Russia escalate. After former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatened the U.S. in response to an ultimatum on Moscow to agree to a cease-fire, Trump said he ordered two nuclear submarines to move to the “appropriate regions.”
Despite the sell-off, Hayes may remain bullish. In a post last month, he said his year-end target for the price of bitcoin was $250,000, while he saw ether rise to $10,000.