Arthur Hayes cashes out $5.1M in HYPE after 126x price prediction

A few weeks after publicly predicting a 126x rally for the token, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes sold off his $5.1 million worth of HYPE holdings. According to Lookonchain’s on-chain data, Hayes made an estimated $823,000 in profit from the sale of 96,628 HYPE tokens, which is 19.2% above his initial investment.

According to Hayes, the sale was partially made to pay for a deposit on a Ferrari Testarossa. Since Hayes advocated for HYPE’s long-term potential at the August WebX Asia conference, his sudden exit has sparked controversy. There, he argued that the adoption of stablecoins and the growth in decentralized exchange revenue from Hyperliquid could drive the token to all-time high valuations.

Need to pay my deposit on the new Rari 849 Testarossa https://t.co/PX7Hx0FuK9

— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) September 21, 2025

Token unlocks raise market concerns

The sale comes after growing controversy over Hyperliquid’s tokenomics. According to Maelstrom’s research, which Hayes cited, 237.8 million HYPE tokens will vest progressively over a 24-month period. This means that almost $500 million worth of supply enters the market each month.

According to the analysis, buybacks at their current level can only cover 17% of the new supply, which could result in a monthly overhang of $410 million. Despite its substantial year-to-date gains, market observers warn that such pressure could have a significant impact on HYPE’s performance.

“With the crown comes the Sword of Damocles: HYPE is about to face its first true test.”

~ Arthur Hayes

Since its late November launch at $6.51, HYPE has already risen by 660% to pass $49. However, it remains uncertain whether Hyperliquid’s growing exchange revenues will be enough to cover the likely outpouring of tokens because of unlock-related risks.

His departure has sparked speculation that Hayes may be redistributing into other assets. ASTER, a recently launched token, was recommended by some analysts as a possible investment for their money. Yoshitaka, a cryptocurrency analyst, noted that Hayes’s sudden change in direction raises eyebrows among investors since it is out of character with his previous strong support for HYPE.

This won’t be the first time Hayes has sold sizable holdings while publicly retaining a bullish outlook, as Cryptopolitan reported. Despite predicting a “monster altseason,” he reportedly sold off more than $13 million worth of assets earlier this year, including ETH, ENA, and PEPE.

Price reaction and technical outlook

After Hayes’ sale, HYPE underperformed overall market movements, dropping 8.3% in 24 hours. As of this writing, the token is currently trading at $49.9. According to Finora AI Global, the immediate demand level is $52.346. Further lower declines can be seen if the price falls below $52.054 or $50.558. If the token remains near its current support, there is still a possibility for interim gains towards $54.482. A stronger reversal would be confirmed only when the price rises above $59.928 with stable trading volume.

Data from DeFiLlama shows that Hyperliquid’s trading volume has grown dramatically, rising from $560 million in early August to an unprecedented peak of $3.4 billion.

Hayes maintains his general optimism for cryptocurrency outside of HYPE. He has reaffirmed his goal of $250,000 in Bitcoin by the end of 2025. Last week, he also argued that after the U.S. Treasury meets its $850 billion General Account target, cryptocurrency markets will return to being “up only.” However, it’s unclear if Hayes will return to HYPE.

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