Arthur Hayes Favors Ethereum Despite $1M Bitcoin Call
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes says Bitcoin could reach $1 million by 2030, citing potential AI-bubble fallout, large-scale money printing and possible US yield-curve control. He believes Bitcoin’s recent decline to about $58,000 marked a bottom and expects the market to grind higher.
Despite his Bitcoin forecast, Ethereum is Hayes’ top crypto pick. He says ETH offers better risk-reward than Hyperliquid and could rise threefold to fivefold relatively quickly. Hayes argues that Ethereum remains undervalued because it has not surpassed its 2021 all-time high, despite serving as a major base layer for decentralised finance. Ethereum also rose about 20% alongside Bitcoin in the latest rally.
Hayes is less optimistic about Hyperliquid’s HYPE token, saying the project is now widely known and faces high market expectations. He also dismisses US President Donald Trump’s direct influence on crypto prices, arguing that the Federal Reserve, Treasury and broader monetary conditions matter more.
BitMEX is scheduled to shut down on 23 September. Hayes said the exchange is closing on its own terms rather than because of a hack, but added that operating a crypto exchange has become difficult without the scale of firms such as Binance or OKX. His Bitcoin and Ethereum views remain personal opinions and are not investment advice.
Bullish
The market impact is mildly bullish because Hayes remains constructive on Bitcoin and identifies Ethereum as his preferred large-cap crypto, with a potential 3x–5x upside. Such comments can increase speculative interest in BTC and ETH, particularly when traders are already focused on liquidity, monetary easing and institutional flows.
In the short term, the remarks may support ETH relative to other large-cap assets and encourage rotation from Bitcoin or smaller tokens into Ethereum. However, the effect is likely limited because the claims are an individual analyst’s opinions rather than evidence of new capital inflows, network activity or regulatory progress. Hayes’ caution on Hyperliquid could also create short-term selling pressure on HYPE.
The $1 million Bitcoin forecast is highly speculative and conflicts with analysts who argue that the required capital inflows are unrealistic. Similar price targets from prominent crypto figures have historically produced brief attention-driven rallies, but they rarely establish a durable trend without confirmation from spot demand, ETF flows, derivatives positioning and macroeconomic conditions. BitMEX’s planned closure is not presented as a security failure, so it should have limited systemic impact. Over the longer term, the key market drivers remain liquidity, central-bank policy, Ethereum adoption, Bitcoin demand and regulatory developments.