Arthur Hayes, the outspoken former CEO of BitMEX, has revealed he sold all his altcoin holdings, including positions in Hyperliquid (HYPE), NEAR Protocol (NEAR), and Worldcoin (WLD), as he believes the artificial intelligence trade is reaching a peak that could destabilize crypto markets. In a detailed interview on the Bankless podcast, Hayes outlined a bearish short-term outlook for altcoins while maintaining a long-term bullish stance on Bitcoin and Ethereum, tied to the eventual collapse of what he calls the AI bubble.
Hayes pointed to three imminent threats to AI-driven capital flows: soaring energy costs that undermine AI profitability, unpredictable U.S. policy risk that could lead to sudden regulatory clampdowns, and the massive liquidity drain expected from upcoming IPOs of AI giants Anthropic and OpenAI. He argued that these mega-listings will absorb institutional capital, pulling money away from high-beta assets like cryptocurrencies. “The AI trade has sucked the oxygen out of crypto,” he said, explaining that investors chasing 20x returns in AI-related stocks saw little reason to buy Bitcoin.
The BitMEX founder also warned that a sharp AI correction would not leave Bitcoin unscathed. Contrary to the narrative that Bitcoin acts as a safe haven during risk-off events, Hayes cautioned that Bitcoin could be “thrown out with the bathwater” if a sector-specific AI sell-off triggers a broad de-risking across all speculative assets. He highlighted the staggering sums already flowing into tokenized AI assets, noting AI-themed BRC-20 NFTs generated $17.8 million in weekly sales, as evidence of how deeply AI hype has penetrated crypto markets.
While his near-term move to cash (held in U.S. Treasury Bills) and a “permanently Bitcoin long” position reflect caution, Hayes’s longer-term vision is hyper-bullish for cryptocurrencies. He predicts that when the AI bubble bursts—likely by 2027-2028—central banks will respond with trillions of dollars in money printing, just as they did after the 2008 mortgage crisis. That liquidity, he argued, will have nowhere to go but into crypto, because investors won’t want to reinvest in unprofitable AI ventures. “The collapse of AI and the subsequent hyper-inflationary money printing will propel Bitcoin to $1 million,” he stated, adding that Ethereum presents an even cheaper and more attractive setup for new capital.
Hayes’s decision to exit NEAR and Worldcoin—tokens explicitly bridging AI and blockchain—underscores his conviction that the unwind will be systemic, not a rotation within the altcoin sector. His track record of anticipating macro liquidity shifts, including his earlier work on Treasury General Account draws and the RRP facility, lends weight to his warning. For now, Hayes has positioned himself defensively, betting that the AI trade’s peak will bring a harsh re-rating of the entire crypto ecosystem before the eventual flood of fiat liquidity reignites the market.
