Hayes’ Maelstrom Sells $22.28M in Altcoins, Led by Ethereum

Arthur Hayes’ investment firm Maelstrom has sold $22.28 million worth of altcoins, with Ethereum making up the largest share at $15.2 million, according to Coincentral. The sale included 6,400 ETH along with $2.76 million of Ethena and $2.24 million of Uniswap, and the firm also sold EtherFi, Aerodrome and Zama.

The selling continued into October 25. On-chain analyst EmberCN reported that Hayes sent another 14 million Ethena tokens, about $2.73 million, to Cumberland that day, bringing the total moved to trading platforms since the previous day to roughly $28.81 million. EmberCN also noted Hayes withdrew 14.15 million USDC from those platforms. Lookonchain put the 24-hour total at $28.8 million, with $6.65 million in profit, mostly from ETH and ENA, while the firm roughly broke even on UNI, ETHFI, AERO, PENDLE and ZAMA.

Key facts

• Maelstrom sold $22.28 million of altcoins: 6,400 ETH worth $15.2 million, $2.76 million of Ethena and $2.24 million of Uniswap.
• US spot Ethereum ETFs recorded $1.1 billion of outflows in October, nearly three times the $313 million that left Bitcoin funds.
• Hayes sent 14 million Ethena tokens, about $2.73 million, to Cumberland on October 25, per EmberCN.
• Ethereum is down 15% from a recent high of $2,800 and is testing support near $2,300.
• At TOKEN2049 Singapore on October 7, 2026, Hayes presented Flop Labs’ “100% fair launch,” with no presales or VC allocations, per Cryptobriefing.

Hayes says macro and geopolitics drove the exit

Hayes addressed the sales publicly rather than leaving them to wallet watchers. He wrote that he “dumped it all,” that Maelstrom booked profits on several positions, and that conditions “look a bit dicey out there in macro and geopolitical land.” The timing lined up with a risk-off session: US stocks closed lower on Friday, and Bitcoin fell to $80,000 after reports that the US was moving personnel out of the Middle East, raising the prospect of renewed tension with Iran.

Ethereum ETFs lose $1.1 billion in October

Ethereum bore the brunt of ETF investor selling. US spot ETH funds shed $1.1 billion this month, the second-largest monthly outflow since launch behind the $1.42 billion record set last November. Early holders have also taken profits, with some selling more than $8 million of ETH in the past 48 hours. On the demand side, Bitmine has bought ETH for its treasury since last June and holds 6.053 million ETH, or 99% of its 5%-of-supply target, while about 20,000 ETH is added to supply each week. Record staking demand helps, though staking rewards themselves add new supply.

On the chart, ETH’s slide from $2,800 has put the $2,300 to $2,400 band, support since September, back in focus. TradingView data cited by Coincentral puts $2,364 as the level whose loss could open the way to $2,200 or $2,100. None of this is financial advice, and crypto markets are volatile and can move sharply in either direction.

From selling to building: the Flop Labs pitch

The sales landed alongside a separate argument from Hayes about how tokens get launched. Cryptobriefing reported that Hayes, as Flop Labs CEO, said high-FDV, low-float tokens no longer pump on Binance, and that venture presales have left retail buyers holding the bag. His alternative is a model he calls a “100% fair launch”: no presales and no VC allocations, with tokens distributed through airdrops tied to network participation. Roughly 24.3% of projected year-10 supply, about 4.4 billion of 18.1 billion tokens, is earmarked for a genesis airdrop planned for late October or early November 2026 over about 90 days, with a mainnet genesis targeted for Q1 2027. FLOP is not yet tradable, and Hayes has warned about scams offering early access. He is funding the project personally.

Why it matters

Hayes is one of the better-known figures in crypto markets, so his exit from a basket of tokens adds a visible data point to a month of heavy Ethereum fund redemptions. It also shows the two sides of his current stance: trimming exposure while arguing the launch playbook that produced many of those tokens is broken. For retail traders, the Flop Labs experiment is a live test of whether community distribution through airdrops can replace the listing-day pop that insider-heavy launches once delivered.

What to watch

October has one week left, and the ETH ETF outflow figure could still grow. Separately, the Flop Labs airdrop is slated to begin in late October or early November 2026 and run roughly 90 days ahead of a planned Q1 2027 mainnet.

Disclaimer: This article is for information only and is not investment, financial or trading advice. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile. Always do your own research.

Sources: CoinCentral, Cryptobriefing