Hayes exits crypto bets as on-chain trackers count $26m in token sales
Arthur Hayes has closed Maelstrom's directional crypto positions, and on-chain analysts are tracking roughly $26 million in token sales behind the move, led by a single Ethereum disposal of about $19 million.
In an Oct. 24 statement, Hayes said he had taken profits on Ethereum, Ethena, Uniswap and other tokens, citing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. "I think we gotta go down to go up," he wrote, adding that he would stay on the sidelines until conditions gave a clearer signal to resume trading. On-chain analyst EmberCN put the total at about $26 million, with Ethereum making up nearly three-quarters: 8,000 ETH worth roughly $19 million, 14 million ENA at $3 million and 323,000 UNI at $2 million. Smaller disposals included 1.89 million Ether.fi tokens, 547,000 Aerodrome Finance tokens, 120,000 Pendle tokens and 3 million Zama tokens, according to EmberCN's estimates.
The exit marks a sharp turn from Hayes' Sept. 2 outlook, in which the Maelstrom chief investment officer kept a $10,000 year-end target for Ethereum plus $0.50 for ENA and $2 for ETHFI. Those calls rested on his expectation that financial stress in Europe would push the Federal Reserve to add dollar liquidity. Hayes has described Bitcoin as Maelstrom's structural long-term holding, with Ethereum and selected DeFi tokens as the more speculative bets; his announcement does not establish that the firm liquidated its longer-term Bitcoin exposure.
The sales landed a day after blockchain analytics firm Santiment reported that about 169,770 ETH left exchanges on a net basis in a single day, the largest such outflow in more than four months. Santiment compared it with June 5, when roughly 223,800 ETH left exchanges as Ethereum hit its lowest price since April 2025 and then recovered. It said a sustained move above $2,500 would strengthen its bottoming thesis, while a fall below about $2,330 would weaken it. Transfers to private wallets, custody services or staking can cut exchange balances without fresh buying.
The timing puts the trades just ahead of the Federal Reserve's Oct. 27–28 policy meeting, where investors expect another read on interest rates and financial conditions.
