Hayes sold nearly 1,900 ETH over the past week while accumulating three DeFi tokens.
- The DeFi tokens Hayes has purchased are down between 60% and 80% this year.
- Retail sentiment on Stocktwits across the DeFi names remained largely bearish despite the accumulation.
- His broader outlook for Bitcoin remains firmly bullish into 2026.
Arthur Hayes, chief investment officer and co-founder of Maelstrom, deposited another 682 Ethereum (ETH) into Binance this week, signaling a continued reduction in the firm’s Ethereum exposure and a rotation into select decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens.
Ethereum’s price remained under $3,000 on Wednesday morning, trading at around $2,930. The token has fallen around 1.3% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the leading altcoin remained in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day amid ‘normal’ levels of chatter.
Hayes Cuts Ethereum Exposure
Over the past week, Hayes has sold a total of 1,871 Ethereum and bought 1.22M Ethena (ENA), 137,117 Pendle (PENDLE), and 132,730 Ether.fi (ETHFI), as per Lookonchain, citing data from Arkham Intelligence.
The transactions follow comments made earlier this month in which Hayes said Maelstrom was shifting capital out of Ethereum and into what he described as “high-quality” DeFi projects. He argued those assets “can outperform as fiat liquidity improves,” positioning the move as a contrarian bet rather than a short-term trade.
The pivot comes as Ethereum recorded its highest daily transaction count in 2025, according to Ether Scan. The analytics platform noted that Ethereum processed more than 1.9 million transactions on Tuesday, with an average transaction fee of $0.16.
DeFi Rotation Targets Heavily Sold Tokens
Data from CoinGecko showed that each of the tokens Hayes is buying up has fallen between 60% and 80% so far this year.
ENA’s price fell 1.7% in the last 24 hours, trading at around $0.1979. The token’s down over 78% so far this year. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the crypto remained in ‘extremely bearish’ territory amid ‘extremely low’ levels of chatter over the past day.
PENDLE’s price moved 2.9% lower in the last 24 hours, trading at around $1.70 at the time of writing. The token is down 65% so far this year. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the altcoin was also in ‘bearish’ territory, but chatter remained at ‘normal’ levels over the past day.
ETHFI’s price slipped more than 5.5% in the last 24 hours, trading at around $0.6775. It’s down 68% so far this year. Retail sentiment around the crypto remained in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, amid ‘low’ levels of chatter.
Bullish Long-Term View Remains Intact
Despite trimming Ethereum exposure and rotating into distressed DeFi assets, Hayes has maintained a bullish long-term outlook for Bitcoin. In an interview with CoinDesk on Tuesday, he said Bitcoin could reach $250,000 by the end of this year and climb to $575,000 by the end of 2026.
“I think 2026, 2027, this is the meat of money printing. The Trump administration is going to do what they know how to do best,” Hayes said, reiterating that next year’s U.S. midterm elections could serve as a key catalyst.
Bitcoin’s price was at around $87,180 on Wednesday morning, down 0.6% in the last 24 hours. Retail sentiment around the apex cryptocurrency on Stocktwits remained in ‘extremely bearish’ territory over the past day, amid ‘normal’ levels of chatter.
Read also: Bitcoin’s $90K Test: Retail Is Divided Whether A Year-End Bounce Is Still Possible
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