Arthur Hayes Pivots to Beaten-Down DeFi Tokens as Ethereum Sell-Off Continues

BitMEX co-founder makes a contrarian bet while ETH bleeds.

The Rotation Play

Arthur Hayes isn't waiting for a bottom. As Ethereum faces persistent selling pressure, the crypto veteran is executing a classic rotation—shifting capital out of the large-cap leader and into oversold DeFi tokens. It's a high-conviction move that bets on a mean reversion for the sector's foundational projects, the ones that actually make the blockchain do something useful.

Reading the Tape

Steady sell-offs create opportunity, at least for those with dry powder and strong stomachs. Hayes's move signals a belief that the market has over-punished protocol tokens with real revenue and user bases. While traders chase the next shiny meme, he's digging in the discount bin for blue-chip DeFi—a strategy that requires ignoring the panic and focusing on fundamentals, assuming those still matter in a market driven by narratives and leverage.

The Contrarian Calculus

This isn't blind bottom-fishing. It's a calculated risk that the smart money eventually returns to value. When the broader market is fixated on one asset's decline, it often creates mispricing elsewhere. Hayes is banking on that dislocation, positioning before the crowd realizes the fire sale. It's the financial equivalent of buying a quality tool at a garage sale while everyone else is bidding on a rusty lawnmower.

One cynical observer might note it's easier to be a contrarian when you've already made your fortune—the ultimate risk management tool. Whether this is genius timing or catching a falling knife, it's a bold narrative shift in a market desperate for direction.

Hayes bets on DeFi tokens down 80% from highs

Arkham data shows that Hayes has reduced his Ether holdings by more than half since November. These sales are a part of his portfolio shift. However, USDC now accounts for more than 60% of his on-chain portfolio. It is seen as a sharp increase from earlier this year.

Arthur Hayes(@CryptoHayes) has just deposited another 682 $ETH($2M) into #Binance to sell and rotate into high-quality DeFi tokens.

In the past week, he has sold a total of 1,871 $ETH($5.53M), and bought 1.22M $ENA($257.5K), 137,117 $PENDLE($259K), and 132,730 $ETHFI($93K).… pic.twitter.com/2mddOY3H1t

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 24, 2025

Funds generated from the recent sales of his ETH have already been used to buy his choice of DeFi tokens. Meanwhile, these tokens have seen a heavy dump in 2025.

Over the past week, Hayes purchased around 1.22 million ENA, the native token of Ethena. He went long on PENDLE and bought 137,117 tokens of it. The governance token of EtherFi stood out to be his other choice as he added 132,730 ETHFI to his bag.

The combined value of those purchases stood under $650,000. The timing is notable as all three tokens are down between 80% and 90% from their respective highs.

ENA price is down by a huge 78% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis. It is trading at an average price of $0.199 at press time. PENDLE price shows a similar pattern and is down by 65% on YTD. The same is with ETHFI, it is running down by 69% in the same period.

Arthur Hayes builds $48M USDC war chest

Hayes has been open and out about the rationale behind the shift. In recent posts, he said he is rotating out of Ether and into what he described as “high-quality DeFi names.” He argued that these assets stand to outperform if global liquidity conditions ease. 

This view stands totally apart from his bullish outlook on Ethereum. He has publicly suggested that ETH could eventually trade as high as $20,000. However, Hayes also had claimed that holding 50 Ether could be life-changing by the next US presidential election.

Ethereum price has slumped by more than 25% over the last 60 days. ETH is trading at an average price of $2,933 at press time.

Arkham data shows that Hayes’ USDC balance has surged from roughly $1 million in mid-November to nearly $48 million today. Such a build-up in stablecoins is often seen as preparation to buy deeper dips. It can also be a signal of caution amid uncertain macro and crypto-specific conditions.

The global crypto market is still struggling and trading under pressure. The cumulative crypto market cap dipped marginally over the last 24 hours to stand at $2.95 trillion. Bitcoin is still trying to reclaim $88,000 mark. However, the fear and greed index is flashing “Fear” sentiment among the investors.

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