Arthur Hayes Bets Big on HYPE Token While Offloading ETHFI and AUKI

Arthur Hayes, BitMEX co-founder and CIO of family office Maelstrom, is making bold moves in the current crypto market. In an April 8 post on X, Hayes publicly declared that Hyperliquid's HYPE token is the only asset his team is actively purchasing right now, reinforcing a bullish stance he has held for some time.

Hayes has previously outlined why he views Hyperliquid as a standout project in the decentralized finance space. The platform has established itself as the leading perpetuals DEX by trading volume and distinguishes itself as one of the highest-revenue-generating decentralized protocols in the industry. A key factor driving Hayes' confidence is Hyperliquid's aggressive buyback strategy, with 97% of platform revenue used to repurchase HYPE tokens from the open market. He has set an ambitious price target of $150 for HYPE by August 2026, representing roughly a 4x return from its current trading range of $35 to $40. Adding to its appeal, Hyperliquid has expanded into real-world asset trading, including tokenized oil futures that are currently recording billions in daily volume.

While Hayes is accumulating HYPE, he is trimming other positions. On-chain data from Arkham Intelligence reveals that Hayes sold his entire ETHFI holding at a loss, offloading 265,461 tokens for approximately $117,800 after originally buying them at $0.51 between February and March. The exit resulted in a realized loss of around $17,600. Despite the sell-off, ETHFI has since climbed over 4% to $0.45.

Hayes is also taking profits on AUKI, moving 3.55 million tokens worth roughly $19,600 to trading firm FlowDesk. AUKI surged 5% over the past 24 hours alongside a broader crypto market recovery, with trading volume spiking 91%.