A wallet linked to BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes bought 3,298 more ETH, worth roughly $6.3 million to $6.39 million according to Lookonchain, hours before Ethereum’s price slid from $1,960 to $1,872 on July 28, 2026, extending an accumulation streak that began on July 15.
Inside the Latest Buy
The purchase brings Hayes’ cumulative total since July 15 to roughly 7,213 ETH, worth between $13.82 million and $13.87 million at an average price in the $1,916 to $1,923 range, leaving the position roughly $368,000 underwater given ETH’s subsequent slide.
Hayes assembled the position through a string of over-the-counter (OTC) trades, with individual purchases ranging from roughly 645 ETH to about 1,330 ETH.
As with our earlier coverage of Hayes’ ETH accumulation, it’s worth repeating that the wallet’s link to Hayes comes from on-chain tracking analysis, not a confirmed statement from Hayes himself. EmberCN cited that the funds were reportedly withdrawn from institutional trading platforms including Galaxy Digital, FalconX, and Cumberland.
It’s worth noting that Hayes closed his ETH position in late June at a loss of about $606,000, then began rebuying July 15 as ETH recovered above $1,750. Critics have pointed to a recurring pattern in Hayes’ public trading commentary, having previously talked up tokens including Hyperliquid’s HYPE, Zcash, and Worldcoin before quietly closing those positions once sentiment shifted.
Readers can find more on Hayes’ broader background in our crypto personality profile, including his current venture, Maelstrom.
The Institutional Case and the Broader Market
Hayes’ rebuilding lines up with a broader institutional thesis for Ethereum. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee has argued institutions are moving past simply trading Ethereum toward building on it, pointing to BlackRock’s tokenized fund and Robinhood’s use of ETH as a fee token as supporting signals.
Ethereum’s drop came as broader crypto markets pulled back on Tuesday, with the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting concluding this week and traders watching closely for signals on interest rates.
Separately, this news arrives against the backdrop of BitMEX’s own closure. Hayes co-founded BitMEX in 2014, and the exchange announced it will shut down permanently after 11 years, a story covered in our BitMEX closure announcement. Hayes and his BitMEX co-founders pleaded guilty in 2022 to Bank Secrecy Act violations tied to the exchange’s anti-money-laundering failures, and President Trump pardoned all three in March 2025, clearing the convictions.
What Comes Next
Whether Ethereum’s price marks a bottom or another early entry point remains unclear, and largely depends on whether it can reclaim the $1,900 level lost in Tuesday’s selloff. Individual whale transactions like this one aren’t definitive market predictors on their own, but they do give analysts a verifiable, on-chain data point to weigh alongside broader sentiment, distinct from harder-to-verify claims about institutional positioning.
What this means for you: a single wallet’s accumulation, even if it is Hayes’, isn’t a reason on its own to change your own position, and the more relevant backdrop for the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap right now is the Fed’s rate decision landing this week, alongside whether the institutional building thesis Tom Lee and others point to keeps gaining traction independent of any individual trader’s activity.
