Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and chief investment officer at Maelstrom, said on Thursday that he has sold his full positions in Hyperliquid and Near Protocol's native cryptocurrencies.
In a post on social media platform X, Hayes summarized several reasons behind the sales, mostly related to macroeconomic trends and conditions.
One of the reasons was higher energy prices due to the war in the Middle East and inventory restocking, which may act as a headwind for risk assets such as altcoins.
AI was also a part of his decision to sell the two cryptocurrencies. Hayes cited three "mega" AI firm initial public offerings slated to take place by the early part of the third quarter, which may drain liquidity away from cryptocurrencies. While Hayes did not name the three AI companies, Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX are currently gearing up for an IPO this year.
Additionally, the BitMEX co-founder predicted that President Donald Trump would take an anti-AI stance to secure a win for the Republican Party in the U.S. midterm elections, scheduled for Nov. 3, potentially impacting projects like NEAR, which has positioned itself as an "AI-native" blockchain.
