Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of the BitMEX platform, has disposed of digital assets worth over $13 million, including Ethereum (ETH), Ethena (ENA), and Pepe (PEPE). This move comes as he announces a bearish scenario for the cryptocurrency market, attributing it to the impact of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump and weak U.S. economic data.
Data from Arkham Intelligence showed that Hayes sold millions of dollars worth of these cryptocurrencies and moved to accumulate USDC, with the stablecoin now making up over 80% of his associated portfolio worth $27.9 million. The address sold 2,373 Ethereum worth $8.32 million, 7.76 million Ethena worth $4.62 million, and 38.86 billion Pepe for $414,700. In a post on X, he seemingly confirmed that he operates the address and pointed to a bearish scenario for the cryptocurrency market.
Hayes' warnings about Trump's tariffs and his bearish outlook
Hayes clarified that markets will take a hit from the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs, some of which came into effect on August 1 and others on August 7, affecting key trading partners. This came in conjunction with a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report, arguing that any major economy is not expanding credit quickly enough to boost nominal GDP. Against this backdrop, he predicted that Bitcoin would test '$100,000' while Ethereum would return to $3,000.
At the same time, the cryptocurrency market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index, has lost more than 7.5% of its value over the past week as hopes for interest rate cuts fade. Bitcoin has outperformed the broader market with a decline of 3.9%, now standing at $113,500. Similarly, Ethereum has seen a decline of 6.5% over the same period and is now trading at $3,500. While hopes for interest rate cuts faded on Friday, they later rose in the session after the labor market showed signs of weakness. Polymarket traders now assign a 70% probability of an interest rate cut in September.
Hayes points out that the recent market downturn was due to rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia. After former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatened the U.S. in response to an ultimatum for Moscow to agree to a ceasefire, Trump stated that he ordered two nuclear submarines to move to 'appropriate areas.' Despite the sell-off, Hayes may remain optimistic in the long term. In a post last month, he stated that his end-of-year price target for Bitcoin was $250,000, while he saw Ethereum rising to $10,000.
Source: Investing
