Crypto Community Erupts Over Arthur Hayes’ Altcoin Sales
Arthur Hayes, once a vocal proponent of several altcoins including WLD, ZEC, HYPE, and NEAR, has revealed he has sold nearly all of his holdings in these assets well before his previously stated price targets were met. This move has ignited a significant backlash from the cryptocurrency community, with many accusing Hayes of orchestrating hype around these tokens only to offload them at inflated prices.
WLD Sale Follows SpaceX IPO Speculation
Just days prior, Hayes had indicated he would hold his Worldcoin (WLD) position at least through the initial week of SpaceX’s anticipated Initial Public Offering (IPO), citing a shared connection with Elon Musk. He had predicted the IPO would be a “face-melting” event. However, his sentiment shifted dramatically after observing a sharp decline in SpaceX’s stock on Friday amidst a broader market downturn. Hayes attributed his decision to sell his WLD holdings to the perceived negative trajectory of the newly listed shares.
On-Chain Sleuths Question Hayes’ Tactics
Prominent on-chain investigator ZachXBT was among the first to publicly question Hayes’ recent actions. ZachXBT queried the amount of “exit liquidity” generated from Hayes’ followers in the preceding days and highlighted other substantial sales by the BitMEX co-founder.
As previously reported, Hayes had divested his Zcash (ZEC) holdings shortly after developers disclosed a code vulnerability that had already been rectified by the time of his sale. Prior to that, he had also sold off his HYPE and NEAR tokens, despite having previously issued highly optimistic price predictions for both.
Analysts Note Price Tops Coinciding with Sales
Analysts at Lookonchain also drew attention to Hayes’ exits, noting that they occurred close to the peak prices of the respective assets. Notably, all of these cryptocurrencies experienced a decline in the hours following Hayes’ disclosure of his sales, eventually returning to levels seen before his bullish pronouncements.
Community Accusations of Market Manipulation
The reaction on social media platform X has been harsh, with some users labeling Hayes’ behavior as a “douchebag” move for promoting altcoins shortly before selling them. Others suggested that any traders who followed his recommendations were themselves “small scammers” who were ultimately “scammed” by Hayes, whom they characterized as a “big scammer.”
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