Arthur Hayes – co-founder of the BitMEX exchange and currently the Investment Director of the Maelstrom fund – is expressing a strong optimistic view of the Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem.
Recently, he has bought a range of Ethereum-related tokens such as Aave (AAVE), Lido DAO (LDO), and Ethena (ENA). Hayes believes that Ethereum is preparing for a strong breakout, thanks to the increasingly important role of this blockchain in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.
Buying LDO, AAVE, and ENA.
In a recent transaction, Hayes bought a large amount of LDO and AAVE from the technology company Flowdesk, with a total value of about 1 million USD for each type of token.
Previously, he transferred a large amount of USDC from his personal on-chain wallet. After this transaction, Hayes continued to spend an additional 6 million USD to buy ETH and 2 million USD to buy ENA.
He has also spent an additional 1 million USD to buy LDO and many other tokens in the Ethereum ecosystem. This move shows that he is making a big bet on the price potential of ETH and related assets.
In the past week, the prices of ETH, LDO, AAVE, and ENA have all experienced notable fluctuations. Specifically, ETH rose more than 2.5% in a day, peaking at $3,674 before returning to around $3,550 at present. LDO surged by 9.86% to $1.02, AAVE increased by 3.55%, while ENA slightly fell by 2.1%. The trading volumes of these assets also soared, indicating renewed interest from investors.
Ethena (ENA) particularly attracts attention, seen as one of the leading projects in the new growth wave of the market. ENA offers scalability solutions, high speed, and a smart aggregation model, aimed at stability in the decentralized finance ecosystem.
Arthur Hayes is optimistic about Ethereum's price and its potential for widespread acceptance.
On July 16, 2025, Arthur Hayes posted on platform X that the 'Ethereum season' has finally arrived for the crypto market.
During Ethereum's boom periods, prices and trading volumes often surge due to the attraction and active participation from the market. Hayes – Investment Director of the Maelstrom fund – believes that ETH will continue to be widely accepted by both retail and institutional investors.
His confidence stems from the core role of Ethereum in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. Thanks to its robust infrastructure, Ethereum has become the main platform for lending and borrowing protocols, with ETH often used as collateral.
In addition, Ethereum's smart contracts allow for the creation of many DeFi applications and yield farming protocols, helping the ecosystem to thrive.
Hayes also mentioned that the current ETH price chart is showing positive growth signals. If the upward momentum is maintained, Ethereum could continue to lead the next growth wave of the market.
Why has Arthur Hayes changed his view on the crypto market?
Arthur Hayes admitted on platform X that he previously had a negative view of the market, as expressed in a recent article. The main reason was concerns about the U.S. Treasury replenishing the TGA (Treasury General Account).
TGA is the cash account of the U.S. Treasury at the Federal Reserve (Fed), used to coordinate spending and manage government liquidity.
When this account is replenished, liquidity from the financial market will be withdrawn, leading to a decrease in liquidity, a factor that could put pressure on the crypto market. Hayes once viewed this as a major barrier to the price increase of digital assets.
However, his perspective changed after Bitcoin reached a new peak accompanied by strong trading volumes. He stated that this is a signal indicating that the market is entering a phase of strong growth.
Hayes also emphasized that Ethereum is closely following Bitcoin and is likely to outperform it in the short term. In fact, in Q3, ETH grew 16% more than BTC. He predicts that the altcoin market will soon enter a growth season (altcoin season).
This forecast also aligns with the perspective of analyst Carl Moon, who has previously emphasized that in past cycles, Ethereum often leads the upward trend of the entire altcoin market.