BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes acquired $1.5 million worth of Ethena (ENA) tokens within 24 hours, as reported by on-chain analysts Yu Jin and EmberCN. The purchases occurred across multiple platforms: 2.1 million ENA for 755,000 USDC on Binance, 700,000 ENA for 248,000 USDC via Wintermute, and 1.4 million ENA for 502,000 USDC through Galaxy Digital. This brings Hayes' total ENA holdings to approximately 4.2 million tokens, valued at $1.4 million at the time of purchase when ENA traded at $0.3336 (-3.88% daily).
Simultaneously, Hayes projected Ethereum would surge to $4,000-$5,000 in 2025 and ultimately reach $10,000, citing parallels to the 2021 altcoin rally cycle at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference. He emphasized this would accelerate capital rotation from Bitcoin to altcoins. ENA serves as the governance token for Ethena Labs' synthetic dollar protocol (USDe), which uses delta-hedged ETH/BTC derivatives for stability and offers high-yield opportunities through DeFi integration.
The investment is interpreted as a strategic endorsement of Ethena's scalable, censorship-resistant design and may enhance Hayes' governance influence within the protocol. On-chain analysts highlight such whale movements often signal confidence and can catalyze short-term market reactions.