Arthur Hayes Sees Opportunity in Established, Profitable DeFi Protocols

Maelstrom co-founder Arthur Hayes said established decentralized finance protocols with paying customers and token-holder returns are his focus, as he expects AI agents to use time-tested projects.

Hayes highlighted protocols that have operated since DeFi Summer in 2020 and remain profitable. He said they are still widely used despite steep token price declines, have reasonable price-to-earnings ratios and can work with one another.

Hayes does not expect the next wave of opportunity to come mainly from new projects. He favors established protocols with real customer payments that can return earnings to token holders.