Arthur Hayes Holds Worldcoin After Selling HYPE, NEAR, ZEC

Arthur Hayes sold his HYPE and NEAR positions on June 4 and exited Zcash (ZEC) on June 5, while retaining Worldcoin (WLD) through an upcoming SpaceX listing. He announced the trades and said he will explain his view in a longer essay titled “Reality Test.”

Hayes attributed his NEAR and HYPE sales to higher energy prices related to the Iran war, a wave of AI initial public offerings, and political risks around AI policy. He posted that he had “dumped my entire $HYPE and $NEAR position” and later wrote that he sold ZEC after a critical bug was found in Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool. He wrote he would re‑evaluate ZEC and could rebuy if conditions changed. Hayes also wrote he was “Holding the $WLD through the listing next week.”

On‑chain cohort metrics for NEAR showed a decline in smart‑money positioning in early June while the token’s price fell from above $3.08. Perpetual futures whales were heavily net short and exchange inflows indicated distribution.

HYPE displayed similar supply pressure: large derivatives players were net short by about $53 million, the smart‑money index dropped from near the 75 level, and exchange inflows ran roughly 2.5 times above average. Those metrics aligned with Hayes’s timing for selling those positions.

ZEC presented mixed signals after the Orchard vulnerability. Smart‑money counts fell roughly 4% within 24 hours after the bug was revealed, while larger holders increased their share. Whale holdings off exchanges rose about 11% and the top‑100 addresses grew by more than 24%, indicating some large addresses accumulated while smart traders reduced exposure.

Worldcoin’s on‑chain cohorts diverged from the three assets Hayes sold. Public figures, whales and smart traders tracked onchain remained net long on WLD. Whale‑held supply off exchanges increased modestly from about 9.61 billion tokens to about 9.63 billion. Flow metrics were mixed: some smart‑money wallets realized profits, exchange outflows exceeded average levels, and inflows to new wallets surged, suggesting fresh buyers entered the market. WLD’s price rose roughly 80% in one week even as the broader crypto market weakened.

Hayes’s fund treats WLD as levered exposure to the SpaceX listing and to the AI IPO wave he referenced. He wrote that a decline in WLD’s smart‑money index similar to the drops seen for NEAR and HYPE would prompt a re‑evaluation of the position. His liquidation of ZEC within 24 hours of the Orchard bug illustrates the timescale on which he has acted when technical or positioning signals change.

On‑chain cohort data indicates where large holders and informed traders were positioned at the time of Hayes’s trades. The key metric Hayes identified to watch going forward is the WLD smart‑money index; a sustained decline there would be the signal he described for reconsidering the holding.