The cryptocurrency space is a compelling industry that tends to prove many doubters wrong, even veterans and seasoned participants such as BitMEX’s co-founder, Arthur Hayes.
As reported last week, the current Maelstrom exec sold a big portion of his portfolio as he envisioned a more profound market-wide correction was in the making.
At the time, Hayes disposed of more than $8 million worth of ETH, alongside some PEPE and ENA holdings. Later on, he owned up to the move, saying that the US Federal Reserve had decided once again not to lower the key interest rates, which was a bearish sign for the crypto market.
Also, he noted that Trump’s foreign policy will result in more turbulence in the ever-volatile crypto market, which is why he preferred to be on the sidelines.
Although that made a lot of sense at the time (which was just a week ago), as many cryptocurrencies were in the red after Trump’s latest actions and nuclear submarine movements, the market typically tends to move in the opposite direction of what people expect.
In the past few days alone, many digital assets have posted notable price gains, including ETH. In fact, the second-largest cryptocurrency just broke past $4,000 and marked a new multi-year high of $4,200. This means that it has gained 20 in a week, which is in stark contrast to Hayes’s expectations of a price drop to $3,000.
As such, Hayes took it to X again to say that he had to “buy it all back.” Evidently, he was referring to ETH since he posted an Ethereum chart and asked for forgiveness from one of the biggest ether proponents – Tom Lee. Oh, and he also promised not to take profits again.
Had to buy it all back, do you forgive me @fundstrat ?
I pinky swear, I’ll never take profit again.
— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) August 9, 2025