Arthur Hayes drops HYPE, NAR Holdings ahead of ‘mega’ AI IPO
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes said he has dumped holdings of the HyperLiquid (HYPE) and Protocol Near (NEAR) tokens, reversing course after previously assigning aggressive targets to both assets.
Hayes cited high energy prices due to the ongoing Middle East conflict, three upcoming “mega AI IPOs” in the third quarter of 2026 and predictions that US President Donald Trump will be “anti-AI” to help Republicans win the US midterm elections.
“I think the mrkts top will happen btw and in September,” Hayes wrote in Thursday's X Post, adding that “it's time to take profits.”
The sell-off comes from Hayes, who previously assigned aggressive price targets for both altcoins. He predicted that HYPE could reach $150 in August and NEAR could see a 20x rally in 2027.
Blockchain data platform Onchain Lens confirmed that Hayes sold 247,334 HYPEs for $18 million and an undisclosed amount, the sale coming shortly after Hayes publicly challenged Multicoin Capital founder Kyle Samin to a $100,000 charity bet that HYPE was bigger than every top-10 cryptocurrency2.
Source: Arthur Hayes
HYPE is down 8.4% to $65, and NEAR is down 17.4% to $2.34 in the last 24 hours, according to TradingView data.
HYPE and NEAR, one month chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
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Hayes' sale comes as investors look forward to three highly-anticipated initial public offerings (IPOs) of AI companies, including ChatGPT creator OpenAI, Anthroponic and Elon Musk's SpaceX.
SpaceX reportedly filed for an IPO in early April, and anonymous sources said the IPO could be completed by June. SpaceX filed an S-1 registration statement in May in its June 12 bid to become a public company.
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Anthropogenic has reportedly chosen Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to lead the IPO and is weighing a public offering as early as October, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Open AI IPO on collision prediction market. Source: Polymarket.com
OpenAI has been preparing a confidential IPO filing and may go public by September, Reuters reported on May 20.
While the timeline is still unclear, 74% of traders expect OpenAI's IPO to happen on December 31, while only 35% expect it to happen before September 30, according to data from prediction market Polymarket.
Still, some industry participants worry that AI IPOs could spell bad news for Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency markets, as growing demand for the offering could squeeze more liquidity out of the cryptocurrency market.
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