Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes made waves at the Token2049 conference in Singapore, where he heavily promoted one of his favorite crypto projects, Pendle.
Hayes spent about 30 minutes of his stage time Wednesday promoting the project to an audience of 20,000, according to attendees.
However, by Friday, blockchain trackers noted that Hayes had transferred over $1 million in Pendle tokens to accounts on centralized exchanges Binance and ByBit. These platforms typically combine client assets, making it impossible to confirm whether Hayes had sold the tokens. Still, many in the cryptocurrency community interpreted the move as a potential dump of his holdings.
The backlash was swift, with many suggesting the transfer was another example of insider dumping, citing Hayes' famous “Yahtzee!” catchphrase.
Those who have examined Hayes’ previous trades have been more critical, noting his apparent poor timing in both entering and exiting Pendle. Despite introducing the token at one of the world’s largest crypto conferences, some analysts estimate Hayes has lost money over several months of trading.
In this move, Hayes sold $1.26 million worth of tokens.
Arthur Hayes currently has 1.66 million PENDLE tokens ($5.93 million) staked on Pendle Finance, but these have passed their lock-up period and can be sold at any time.
It’s important to note that these estimates are based on preliminary blockchain research and are not a definitive account of Hayes’ overall Pendle holdings or transactions. It remains unclear whether he made a profit or loss on his investments. Hayes has faced controversy before. He pleaded guilty to money laundering charges on BitMEX in 2022, paid a $10 million fine, and served his sentence. He is now free to continue trading, but this latest incident has reignited scrutiny of his actions in the crypto space.
*This is not investment advice.