Arthur Hayes Liquidates HYPE and NEAR After $100K Wager

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, posted on X that he sold his entire holdings of Hyperliquid (HYPE) and NEAR Protocol (NEAR). He wrote he will provide a fuller explanation next week.

In the X post Hayes listed four reasons for the sales: rising energy prices linked to the Iran war; inventory restocking across markets; three large artificial intelligence initial public offerings expected before early Q3; and a prediction that former President Donald Trump would turn against AI as a political tactic ahead of the midterm elections. He added he expects markets to peak between now and September and described the sales as profit-taking ahead of that anticipated top.

In April Hayes had accumulated more than 26,000 HYPE tokens, which he valued at about $1.1 million, and set a $150 price target while predicting HYPE could overtake Solana. Days before the liquidation he posted a public wager offering $100,000 to charity if HYPE outperforms any current top-ten cryptocurrency by year-end, writing: “I put $100k on the line to a charity of your choice that $HYPE outperforms any other current top ten crypto in USD terms from now until year end.”

Despite the sales, Hayes posted bullish commentary on Worldcoin (WLD), urging followers to hold through its upcoming listing and setting a $10 target. He wrote: “The SpaceX IPO is going to melt people’s faces off. Holding the WLD through the listing next week.” He also plans to publish a longer essay titled the Reality Test next week that he says will clarify whether he is timing a market peak or rotating capital between assets.

HYPE is the native token of the Hyperliquid exchange ecosystem. NEAR is a layer-1 blockchain focused on developer-friendly applications. Hayes’ upcoming Reality Test essay is expected to provide further detail on the timing and rationale behind the sales.