Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, caught the market’s attention after making a high confidence rotation with Ethereum and to a selected group of decentralized financial tokens. The on-chain data, later reinforced by his public comments, shows a deliberate concentration of capital in specific DeFi protocols that he believes could outperform as liquidity conditions evolve.

Ethereum was sold, not abandoned

Blockchain data shows that within two weeks Hayes reduced its exposure to Ethereum, selling a total of 1,871 ETH worth approximately $5.53 million at the time of execution. This was not an isolated transaction, as the ETH sale was followed by a series of DeFi purchases, which indicated this Ethereum was used as the funding source and not the asset from which he was recovering on the basis of his conviction.

This pattern is consistent with Hayes’ broader view of the subject The role of Ethereum in the market. ETH increasingly serves as underlying infrastructure and productive collateral, while much of the growing return potential has been reallocated to protocols that are closer to generating profits and cash flow. Hayes has already signaled this thinking previously by reducing his exposure to ETH in August and making recent sales part of ongoing reallocation instead of a sudden reversal.

Hayes later reinforced he publicly justified by stating that his portfolio was shifting from ETH to “high-quality DeFi names” based on the expectation that these assets could perform better in an environment of improving fiat liquidity. The speed and coordination of the transactions suggest clear macroeconomic movement, not tactical speculation.

The thesis behind the purchases of Pendle, Lido DAO, Ethena and Ether.fi

Following the ETH sale, Hayes redeployed capital across four DeFi protocols, each targeting a different market segment Etherum financial stack. Initial purchases included 961,113 PENDLE worth approximately $1.75 million, reflecting exposure to the yield tokenization and fixed income markets on the network. It also acquired 2.3 million LDOs worth approximately $1.29 million, positioning itself liquid staking infrastructure which continues to play a key role The Economics of Ethereum Staking.

Additional assignments went to Ethena and Ether.fi along with Hayes buying 6.05 million ENA for approximately $1.24 million and 491,401 ETHFI worth approximately $343,000. Minutes later, on-chain trackers reported more purchases, showing Hayes had doubled his position in two positions. It added an additional 4.86 million ENA worth nearly $986,000 and 697,851 ETHFI worth approximately $485,000, which significantly exceeded the original allocation.

The structure of these purchases matters. Pendle targets yield markets, Lido provides liquidity, Ethena focuses on synthetic dollar mechanics, and Ether.fi takes into account the emerging repurchase profitability. Together they create a solid exposure to profitability, capital efficiency and adoption at the infrastructure level and not narrative-driven transactions.

Hayes’ actions underscore a consistent message: Ethereum remains the base layerbut he sees the greatest risk-adjusted opportunity in DeFi protocols that actively transform ETH into productive revenue-linked assets.

Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com