Arthur Hayes, the BitMEX co-founder, let go of roughly $5 million in altcoins as markets entered a period of heavy pressure, with liquidations totaling about $620 million.
His actions came as Ethereum led the sales, with Lookonchain data showing a large ETH dump of around $2.48 million, followed by $1.38 million in Ethena and about $480,000 in Lido DAO, among others.
Hayes also reduced positions in Aave, Uniswap, and ether.fi, sending a portion of tokens to OTC desks, according to transfer histories that unwind exposure within hours.
The rapid exits coincided with broad market stress, prompting discussion that Hayes could rotate into Zcash amid renewed privacy-coin interest.
The market environment appeared to favor defensive moves, with Bitcoin leading liquidations at approximately $243.5 million and Ethereum at about $170 million over the past day.
Sentiment shifted as leveraged positions unwound on a wide scale, with major altcoins such as ZEC, Solana, and Ripple feeling the strain.
Hayes’ public stance on ZEC intensified after he shared a ZEC/BTC chart and suggested he had “aped more,” triggering attention from traders.
ZEC has since climbed and gained volume as liquidity tightened.
The episode has reinforced the narrative that Hayes is navigating the downturn by repositioning into privacy-focused assets.
The broader market view has suggested potential room for growth in the crypto space, with cautions about cycles and timing in the years ahead.
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