Arthur Hayes Increases Ethena (ENA) Holdings Ahead of Critical USDH Vote

Key highlights:

Arthur Hayes accumulated nearly $1 million worth of Ethena’s ENA token over two days.
The purchases coincide with Ethena’s bid for control of the USDH stablecoin ticker via Hyperliquid’s validator vote.
Ethena’s proposal features backing from BlackRock and offers 95% revenue share to Hyperliquid.

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of crypto investment fund Maelstrom and former CEO of BitMEX, has significantly increased his position in Ethena’s ENA token. According to data from Arkham Intelligence, Hayes purchased approximately $995,000 worth of ENA tokens over a 48-hour span earlier this week.

His acquisitions include a tranche of 578,956 ENA worth about $473,000 on Wednesday, following earlier purchases of 672,800 ENA valued at roughly $521,000. The timing of these moves suggests strategic alignment with a key governance decision in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.

Arthur Hayes’ recent crypto wallet activity. Image source: Arkham

Ethena competing for USDH stablecoin ticker

Hayes’ accumulation coincides with Ethena’s high-stakes bid to secure the USDH stablecoin ticker in a vote set for Sunday by Hyperliquid validators. Ethena’s proposal leverages its USDtb stablecoin, collateralized via BlackRock’s BUIDL fund. The plan includes pledging 95% of revenue to Hyperliquid and covering costs associated with transitioning trading pairs from USDC to USDH.

David Lawant, head of research at FalconX, praised Ethena’s proposal in a recent blog post, calling it a strong bid backed by one of crypto’s “fastest-growing and most impressive ecosystems.” Lawant highlighted Ethena’s track record, noting that its USDe stablecoin has surpassed a $13 billion market cap and processed $23 billion in cumulative mints and redemptions without downtime or security incidents.

Competitive landscape: Native Markets and Paxos

Despite Ethena’s momentum and Hayes’ backing, Native Markets currently leads in prediction market odds. According to Myriad Markets, the newly formed company holds a 91.6% probability of winning the vote. Its proposal features a GENIUS-compliant USDH managed by Bridge, Stripe’s stablecoin issuer, with reserves in cash and U.S. Treasuries. The yield is split between Hyperliquid’s Assistance Fund and ecosystem growth, and the plan includes a future HyperEVM launch.

Paxos, supported by PayPal, remains another major contender. It recently revised its proposal to offer a greater share of reserve yields to Hyperliquid and to defer issuer profits until the product scales beyond $1 billion. Kraken has expressed interest in listing USDH and HYPE from launch day, pending standard review processes.