BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has doubled down on his bullish outlook for Ethereum (ETH), predicting that the second-largest cryptocurrency could climb as high as $20,000 before the end of the current market cycle.
In a recent interview, Hayes revealed he had re-entered the market by repurchasing ETH he previously sold, noting that market momentum remains firmly on the upside.
“The chart says it’s going higher, so you can’t fight the market,”
Hayes said, adding that once ETH breaks through key resistance,
“there’s a gap of air to the upside.”
Arthur Hayes just admitted he bought back ETH because “the chart says it’s going higher.”
He sees Ethereum running up to $20K this cycle.
He’s overweight $ETH 🚀 pic.twitter.com/Yd3q1t0aCe
— SamAlτcoin.eth 🇺🇸 (@SamAltcoin_eth) August 21, 2025
Hayes said his base case assumes a broad-based bull run across financial markets, particularly in sectors tied to policies and priorities linked to the Trump administration. Within crypto, he disclosed a stronger allocation to Ethereum over Solana (SOL), arguing that while both assets are poised to rally, Ethereum holds greater upside potential.
“They are both going to go up, but the question is which asset could go up more,”
he said, while acknowledging that Solana could deliver a bigger percentage move despite not overtaking Ethereum.
Last week, Hayes purchased 1,500 ETH worth $8.4 million, alongside fresh exposure to blue-chip DeFi tokens such as Lido (LDO), EtherFi (ETHFI), and Pendle (PENDLE). His investment activity comes as institutional interest in Ethereum accelerates, particularly with staking and ecosystem tokens gaining traction.
At the time of writing, Ethereum was trading at $4,306 after a slight recovery from a 24-hour dip of 0.64%, according to CoinMarketCap. Hayes’s $20,000 price target, while aggressive, is drawing attention across the market, with traders closely monitoring his wallet activity as a potential signal for broader sentiment.
Notably, Hayes recently warned that the U.S. Treasury is nearing structural limits in financing government debt through traditional markets. In a July 3 Substack post, he argued that stablecoins could become a critical new liquidity channel, positioning them at the center of the next phase of global capital flows.
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