Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes has sold $8.4 million worth of ENA tokens hours after praising the project. The move has got the entire market talking, especially with the words of praise, ‘Ethena is impressive,’ coming two hours after he made the large sale on Binance.
Hayes stacked up his ENA holdings between November 26 and 28, accumulating 16.79 million ENA tokens. The tokens were worth $0.67 at the time, putting the total at a cumulative $11.21 million at the time. Now, his position has improved, cashing out when a token is around $0.7, netting him a profit of $7.7 million.
Ethena’s impressive price rise amid the chaos
ENA has been on a rollercoaster ride, thanks to the influence of Hayes. Before his sale, the token surged by 25% amid speculation and riding demands, hitting $0.71 on December 21. On X, he praised the Ethena Labs team and the project, urging people to integrate it. “I could nitpick some things, but a very impressive rundown on Ethena Labs. If you are a DeFi protocol and you haven’t integrated USDe or sUSDe, you are f—ing up,” he said.
I could nit pick some things , but a very impressive run down on @ethena_labs. If you are a DeFi protocol and you haven’t integrated USDe or sUSDe, you are fucking up. https://t.co/bFsQB6Uw67
— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) December 21, 2024
However, his comment section is now awash with users accusing him of insider trading, with others calling him out for market manipulation. Notably, this is not the first accusation of market manipulation or insider trading he has faced. On its part, Ethena’s synthetic dollar, USDe, has been pivotal to the project, generating a yield of 67% for investors, and dusting traditional stablecoins like USDT.
Arthur Hayes’s involvement in the project gave it credibility, with his recent action causing confidence to drop a little bit. But still, it is the crypto market, where investors should know when to take profits regardless of who is endorsing the project or platform. In his case, Hayes knows the right time, and he is using it to his advantage.
Arthur Hayes’ history and BitMEX’s issues
With Arthur Hayes building his reputation as a reader who knows his onions, it comes with its legal troubles. BitMEX, one of the biggest platforms for derivatives trading, has also faced its fair share of allegations, with the most recent accusation of having an ‘insider trading desk’. According to sources, employees allegedly had access to user details, enabling them to profit from it.
Critics noted that it was bad business practice because it gave the company profits while leaving investors out to dry. BitMEX has also been hit with other kinds of accusations, with most people saying the company looked like it was willing to sacrifice its users for profits. For his part, Hayes and his co-founders were served with lawsuits.
The allegations mentioned that the firm carried out illegal trading and lacked the needed anti-money laundering protocol. The CFTC and the DOJ took a keen interest in their case, charging them with a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act. Recently, a United States court refused to grant its motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit related to price manipulation.
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