Arthur Hayes Dumps Ethereum and Shifts Toward New DeFi Bets

• Arthur Hayes sells large ETH holdings and moves funds toward select DeFi tokens.
• On-chain data shows a strategic portfolio rotation instead of panic selling.

Arthur Hayes has once again attracted the attention of crypto observers and investors after reportedly selling off a significant portion of his Ethereum holdings. According to Lookonchain data, in the past week, he has sold about 1,871 ETH worth nearly $5.53 million. Furthermore, he also sent an additional 682 ETH worth approximately $2 million to Binance, which is considered a follow-up to his subsequent selling and then transferring the funds to his preferred DeFi tokens.

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

Arthur Hayes Shifts Fresh Capital Toward DeFi Picks Arthur Hayes’ move wasn’t simply to sell and sit idly by. The proceeds were apparently directed to several DeFi tokens he deemed to have attractive potential. Based on his transaction activity, Hayes has purchased approximately 1.22 million ENA tokens worth approximately $257,500. Furthermore, he also purchased 137,117 PENDLE tokens worth nearly $259,000. Not to be outdone, he also added 132,730 ETHFI tokens with a value of around $93,000. His asset choice may not be surprising to some market participants who have long followed his investment style, but this rotation is still interesting to note, as it occurs at a time when Ethereum is sluggish and still tending to move sideways. At the same time, Arthur Hayes’ movements are often seen as an indication of where some market participants might shift their focus. However, nothing automatically signifies a major shift in the market, as a whale’s actions typically reflect personal strategy, not some kind of absolute industry compass. Earlier in December, we highlighted how Arthur Hayes warned that Tether’s large allocation to gold and Bitcoin could increase risks to its balance sheet. Despite such concerns, Tether continues to expand its integration of USDT with the Lightning Network to improve transaction speed and scalability. Further back, in early November, we also reported that Arthur Hayes revealed that Zcash is now the second-largest liquid asset in his Maelstrom family office portfolio after Bitcoin, signaling a growing confidence in privacy assets. In fact, on July 23, we covered how Arthur Hayes had linked massive government spending and negative real interest rates to the possibility of Bitcoin reaching $250,000 and Ethereum reaching $10,000 by the end of 2025. However, as the year draws to a close, market reality remains far from these expectations, as the prices of both major assets remain sluggish. As of press time, BTC is changing hands at about $87,710, down 19.54% over the last 90 days, with a slight increase of 1.04% over the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, ETH is trading at about** $2,933.55**, down 24.18% over the last 3 months, with a slight increase of 0.77% over the last 24 hours.