Arthur Hayes Reportedly Adds $2.63M In ETH After Altcoin Exit

A blockchain address attributed to BitMEX co-founder and Maelstrom CIO Arthur Hayes received 1,500 ETH from Cumberland, adding approximately $2.63 million in Ethereum exposure during another weak session for the broader crypto market.

Onchain Lens identified the address as belonging to Hayes, although he has not publicly confirmed the transaction. The ETH arrived from Cumberland’s institutional trading operation at an implied value near $1,750 per coin.

The Cumberland transfer tracked by Onchain Lens valued the ETH near $1,750 per coin. The transaction was described as a purchase, although the wallet attribution comes from onchain labeling rather than a direct confirmation from Hayes.

The movement follows another 3,000 ETH, worth about $5.42 million, transferred from Flowdesk into a wallet that Lookonchain also associated with Hayes. Together, the two transactions point to as much as 4,500 ETH entering Hayes-linked addresses within several days, with a combined value above $8 million at the recorded transfer prices.

Ethereum Replaces Recently Sold Altcoin Exposure

The ETH inflows follow a sharp reduction in Hayes’ higher-risk altcoin positions.

Hayes confirmed that he had sold his entire HYPE and NEAR holdings, citing higher energy prices, heavy capital demand from major artificial intelligence listings and the risk of a broader market peak before September. The move ended one of his most visible recent trades and pushed additional attention toward whether he was moving into cash or rebuilding exposure elsewhere.

The HYPE and NEAR exit was followed by another reversal after a critical vulnerability was disclosed in Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool. Hayes said the “Holy Trinity” trade was dead and confirmed that he had sold his entire ZEC position.

His departure from the ZEC trade removed the privacy asset from a portfolio thesis that had previously combined ZEC, HYPE and NEAR. The latest transfers suggest that part of the released capital may now be concentrating in ETH rather than returning immediately to smaller tokens.

OTC Transfers Point To Deliberate Accumulation

Cumberland and Flowdesk provide institutional liquidity and over-the-counter execution for large crypto trades. Receiving ETH through those desks can reduce the market impact that would come from placing a similarly sized order directly into a public exchange order book.

The transfers do not disclose the full settlement terms, cost basis or purpose of the assets. They do, however, create a different market signal from an exchange withdrawal funded through a retail account. Multiple large ETH receipts from professional execution desks are consistent with a planned portfolio allocation rather than an isolated spot trade.

Wallet attribution still requires caution. Hayes recently denied buying back HYPE after an onchain tracker connected a $2.09 million withdrawal to an address associated with him. That disputed HYPE attribution showed that analyst labels can connect activity to the wrong owner or fail to capture the purpose of a transfer.