Original Article Title: Arthur Hayes: Net worth and on-chain holdings (September 2025)

Original Article Author: 0xKira, Arkham

Original Article Translation: Azuma, Odaily Planet Daily

Editor's Note: "Crypto King" Arthur Hayes is known for his market predictions, but do you know how much money he actually has? On September 10, blockchain data analysis firm Arkham speculated on his net worth through tracking Arthur Hayes's addresses and estimating other assets, potentially unraveling the mystery of Arthur Hayes's wealth.

Below is the original content from Arkham, translated by Odaily Planet Daily. For the sake of readability, some content has been omitted.

Arthur Hayes Personal Information (Skip if Familiar)

Arthur Hayes is the co-founder and former CEO of the cryptocurrency derivatives exchange BitMEX.

BitMEX was launched in November 2014. Prior to this, Arthur Hayes worked as a stock derivatives trader at Deutsche Bank and Citibank's Hong Kong branch. Leveraging his derivatives background, he designed the perpetual swap, which has now become an industry standard. This key innovation helped BitMEX quickly establish a dominant position in the industry in its early days.

Over the years, Arthur Hayes has become a significant voice in the crypto field with sharp market analysis and often provocative articles, despite frequently facing controversies.

In 2022, Arthur Hayes and other BitMEX co-founders were convicted of violating the Bank Secrecy Act. He was sentenced to 6 months of home detention, 2 years of probation, and a $10 million fine. However, in March 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump officially pardoned them.

Estimation of Arthur Hayes's Net Worth

During the 2021 cryptocurrency bull market, the media speculated that Arthur Hayes's wealth had reached the billion-dollar level. However, on-chain data shows that the peak asset value of Arthur Hayes's public addresses was only around $88 million, far from the billion-dollar scale.

Arthur Hayes's net worth composition goes far beyond verifiable on-chain holdings (approximately $57 million at the time of writing), and speculations about his "billionaire" status from the outside world may stem more from his role as the founder of BitMEX.

To calculate Arthur Hayes's actual net worth, one would need to evaluate BitMEX's current valuation and Arthur Hayes's remaining equity in that trading platform. Referring to similar cryptocurrency exchanges' valuations and combining current trading volumes with the historical valuation of $3.6 billion when the trading volume exceeded a trillion dollars in 2019, BitMEX's enterprise value is conservatively estimated at $5 billion.

Arthur Hayes's stake in BitMEX is unknown, but as a founder, it is undoubtedly substantial. He co-founded BitMEX with two others, and if we assume equal ownership, he would hold a maximum of 33% of the shares. However, after enduring several controversies, his equity has likely been diluted.

Moreover, Arthur Hayes's family office Maelstrom focuses on venture capital, and he himself is an early supporter of the Ethena token ENA—the ENA holdings may be much higher than the quantity tracked by Arkham.

Therefore, a conservative estimate of Arthur Hayes's net worth is between $200 million and $400 million.

BitMEX Valuation in 2025

BitMEX was once the dominant force in the global cryptocurrency derivatives market, with a trading volume exceeding $1 trillion in 2019 and a valuation of $3.6 billion. However, as competitors emerged, regulatory pressure increased, and leadership changed, BitMEX's market share plummeted.

Recent data shows that BitMEX's daily trading volume hovers around $677 million, corresponding to an annual trading volume of approximately $247 billion—a 75% decrease from the peak in 2019. If a valuation estimation similar to 2019 is applied, considering the reduced market position due to competition and legal hurdles, BitMEX's enterprise value would be far less than $3.6 billion.

Based on this, a reasonable estimate for BitMEX's valuation in 2025 is around $500 million. This figure reflects both its still significant trading volume and the reality that BitMEX is no longer the dominant force of the past. While it remains profitable and has a presence in the derivatives trading market, its relative importance in the market has diminished—resulting in a decreased valuation.

The Billionaire Identity Mystery

Speculation regarding whether Arthur Hayes has officially joined the ranks of billionaires has long been ongoing.

During BitMEX's heyday, various media outlets, including Vanity Fair, reported in April 2021 that Arthur Hayes had become one of the youngest billionaires in the cryptocurrency space. His holdings in BitMEX likely brought him significant profits during the platform's golden period—BitMEX's trading volume exceeded $1 trillion in 2019, capturing 57% of the cryptocurrency derivatives market share, surpassing competitors such as Deribit and CME.

Arthur Hayes is also widely known for holding a significant amount of Bitcoin and Ethereum, although the specific figures have never been disclosed. In 2023, Arthur Hayes also founded the family office Maelstrom and personally served as the Chief Investment Officer.

In summary, in 2021, there was much speculation about Hayes's net worth, with widespread reports suggesting that his net worth had exceeded $1 billion during the peak of the bull market. However, due to the privacy of his financial status and the volatility faced by his personal cryptocurrency holdings, many claims about his net worth are difficult to verify.

The Revealed ETH Whale

On several occasions, on-chain analysis tools such as Arkham Intelligence have identified Arthur Hayes as an ETH whale.

The latest data shows that Arthur Hayes purchased 1,750 ETH in early August 2025, worth approximately $7.43 million, in addition to his existing 4,424 ETH holdings. This additional purchase brought his total holdings to 6,174 ETH, valued at over $26.5 million at the current market price. Furthermore, Arthur Hayes also holds EtherFi's EETH and WEETH products, valued at $18.7 million, making ETH and ETH staking products account for slightly over 80% of his traceable on-chain net worth.

Arthur Hayes is also heavily invested in Hyperliquid (HYPE), Ethena (ENA), Lido (LDO), and Pendle (PENDLE), with a total value of approximately $9 million.

Arthur Hayes has always been a vocal supporter of Ethena (ENA). Ethena is a synthetic dollar and yield-generating protocol that gained widespread attention in 2024 and 2025. Arthur Hayes is an early investor in the project and has often written about its potential to fundamentally redesign stablecoin architecture and on-chain liquidity. Arthur Hayes's verified ENA holdings are valued at $3.9 million, but he may hold a significant amount of unverified ENA as well.

Non-Crypto Asset Holdings

While most of Arthur Hayes's wealth is concentrated in the cryptocurrency space, he is also known for participating in other alternative investments.

In a 2025 video interview, Arthur Hayes revealed that he recently invested in a stem cell company with clinics in Mexico and Bangkok, stating that he is a regular at the institution. Arthur Hayes also joined the company's board of directors but did not publicly disclose the specific company name.

Public information about Arthur Hayes's non-crypto assets is scarce. However, in an end-of-2024 BitMEX blog post, he mentioned that in addition to cryptocurrency assets and equity in crypto companies, he prefers to hold gold (ideally stored in a bullion vault).

· Odaily Note: In a recent conversation interview with Odaily, Arthur Hayes revealed that he bought a ton of gold bars.

Net Worth Trajectory

Since most of Arthur Hayes's assets are in cryptocurrency and related ventures, his net worth has closely followed the volatility of the crypto markets since joining BitMEX's operations in 2014. His wealth likely saw significant increases during each bull market cycle—such as in 2017 when Bitcoin and Ethereum reached new highs, coupled with BitMEX's dominant share of daily trading volumes, leading to exponential growth of his assets for the first time; during the 2021 bull market driven by quantitative easing and interest rate cuts, Arthur Hayes's wealth valuation may have surpassed $1 billion, with the bulk of his net worth surge attributed to BitMEX trading fee income and the appreciation of his primary holdings in BTC and ETH.

Between 2021 and 2022, the charges under the Bank Secrecy Act and the subsequent fine against BitMEX dealt a significant blow to Arthur Hayes, with substantial financial penalties and stepping down from the CEO position notably weakening his ability to tap into the exchange's operational cash flows. Nonetheless, Arthur Hayes's heavy holdings in BTC and ETH have continued to align his net worth with the prices of cryptocurrencies, and this correlation likely drove another surge in his portfolio value during the 2024-2025 bull market.

Conclusion

Arthur Hayes's crypto career epitomizes the significant financial opportunities and extreme volatility unique to this industry. Starting as a derivatives trader, Arthur Hayes quickly gained global recognition by founding BitMEX and popularizing perpetual contracts. Despite legal troubles, including a conviction under the Bank Secrecy Act and substantial fines, he has continued to maintain industry influence through sharp market commentary and his self-proclaimed whale status.

Taking into account his on-chain verifiable holdings, BitMEX equity, Maelstrom Fund, and potentially unverified ENA tokens as a major supporter, Arthur Hayes's net worth is estimated to be between $200 million and $400 million. It is important to note that this valuation is based on a conservative estimate of BitMEX's enterprise value in 2025 and his remaining equity calculation. Furthermore, while Arthur Hayes has verified on-chain holdings of "only" $57 million, there may be unidentified wallet addresses further increasing his total net worth.

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