Arthur Hayes has exited Maelstrom’s directional crypto positions, and on-chain analysts are monitoring about $26 million in token gross sales.
In an Oct. 24 statement, Hayes mentioned he had taken earnings on Ethereum (ETH), Ethena (ENA), Uniswap (UNI), and different cryptocurrencies, citing mounting macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty.
The choice follows blockchain analytics agency Santiment’s Oct. 23 report of Ethereum’s largest day by day web trade outflow in additional than 4 months, a sample it in contrast with a June native backside.
Hayes abandons bullish Ethereum positions amid market uncertainty
On-chain analyst EmberCN reported that Hayes bought about $26 million in cryptocurrencies, with Ethereum accounting for practically three-quarters of the whole.
The transactions included 8,000 ETH value roughly $19 million, 14 million ENA valued at $3 million, and 323,000 UNI value $2 million.
Further disposals concerned 1,890,000 Ether.fi (ETHFI) tokens valued at $1 million, 547,000 Aerodrome Finance (AERO) tokens value $400,000, 120,000 Pendle (PENDLE) tokens valued at $240,000, and three million Zama (ZAMA) tokens value $210,000.
Hayes described the trades as profit-taking; the greenback estimates come from EmberCN.
“I believe we gotta go all the way down to go up,” he wrote, including that circumstances seemed unsure throughout the macroeconomic and geopolitical panorama.
He mentioned he would stay on the sidelines till market circumstances offered a clearer sign to renew buying and selling.
The choice represents a considerable shift from the bullish positioning Hayes outlined in September.
In his Sept. 2 investment outlook, the Maelstrom chief funding officer maintained a $10,000 year-end goal for Ethereum, alongside value expectations of $0.5 for ENA and $2 for ETHFI.
These forecasts depended closely on his expectation that monetary stress in Europe would ultimately power the Federal Reserve to extend greenback liquidity, creating favorable circumstances for cryptocurrency costs.
Hayes additionally described Bitcoin as Maelstrom’s structural long-term holding, whereas Ethereum and chosen decentralized finance tokens represented extra speculative positions.
His newest announcement signifies that he has deserted these near-term directional bets, though it doesn’t set up that Maelstrom liquidated its longer-term Bitcoin publicity or different investments.
The reversal comes forward of the Federal Reserve’s Oct. 27–28 coverage assembly, when traders will obtain one other indication of the central financial institution’s method to rates of interest and monetary circumstances.
Santiment flags Ethereum’s largest trade outflow in 4 months
In an Oct. 23 analysis, Santiment reported that roughly 169,770 ETH had left exchanges on a web foundation throughout a single day, the most important such withdrawal in additional than 4 months.
Santiment interpreted the decrease trade steadiness as much less instantly obtainable provide for sellers, doubtlessly easing promoting strain if demand stabilizes.
Santiment highlighted a comparable episode on June 5, when roughly 223,800 ETH left exchanges as Ethereum reached its lowest value since April 2025.
That earlier motion coincided with an area market backside, after which the cryptocurrency staged a fast restoration.
The analytics agency instructed the most recent withdrawal spike might help one other restoration, particularly if outflows persist whereas Ethereum stays inside its present buying and selling vary.
Transfers to non-public wallets, custody providers, or staking preparations can cut back trade balances with out essentially representing contemporary shopping for demand. Santiment’s Oct. 23 outflow report preceded Hayes’ Oct. 24 gross sales announcement.
Furthermore, the withdrawals have emerged throughout a interval of persistent weak spot in Ethereum’s market performance.
Santiment recognized $2,400 because the instant pivot. It mentioned a sustained transfer above $2,500 would strengthen its bottoming thesis, whereas a fall under roughly $2,330 would weaken it.
