TLDR
- Arthur Hayes purchased $995,000 worth of Ethena tokens over a 48-hour period.
- His total ENA holdings reached 5.02 million tokens valued at approximately $3.91 million.
- The purchases took place shortly before Hyperliquid’s USDH validator vote scheduled for September 14.
- Ethena is competing to issue USDH using USDtb backed by BlackRock’s BUIDL fund.
- Ethena’s proposal includes 95 percent revenue sharing with Hyperliquid and covers migration costs from USDC to USDH.
Arthur Hayes has purchased nearly $1 million in Ethena (ENA) tokens over a 48-hour period. His aggressive buying spree aligns with a critical validator vote on Hyperliquid’s stablecoin infrastructure. The vote, scheduled for September 14, could determine the future role of Ethena in Hyperliquid’s USDH system.
Arthur Hayes Adds to Ethena Holdings
Arthur Hayes added 578,956 ENA tokens worth $473,000 in his final purchase during the two-day buying window. In total, Hayes accumulated $995,000 worth of ENA tokens, bringing his wallet’s holdings to 5.02 million. These assets now carry an estimated value of $3.91 million.
Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) has bought 578,956 $ENA, worth $467.7K, from #Binance.
Arthur now holds a total of 5.02M $ENA, worth $3.91M.
Address: 0x6cd66DbdFe289ab83d7311B668ADA83A12447e21
Data @nansen_ai pic.twitter.com/VNxKgX0zxg
— Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens) September 11, 2025
This accumulation follows his earlier deposit of 7.764 million ENA tokens to Binance, valued at $4.62 million. After that deposit, Hayes resumed accumulation from Binance, Galaxy Digital, and Wintermute. According to Arkham Intelligence, his buying strategy showed a systematic pattern over the last few months.
Hayes’ moves appear to align with Ethena’s bid to issue Hyperliquid’s native stablecoin, USDH. Ethena plans to use USDtb collateralized by BlackRock’s BUIDL fund. The proposal also promises to migrate trading pairs from USDC to USDH at no cost.
Ethena’s Competitive Proposal for USDH
Ethena’s proposal offers Hyperliquid a 95% revenue share while assuming infrastructure and migration costs. The project currently operates the third-largest stablecoin protocol with $13.5 billion in USDe deposits. Only Tether and Circle surpass Ethena in market share.
Ethena’s approach uses a cash and carry strategy to generate yields higher than U.S. Treasury rates. Hayes has supported this model, predicting that ENA could see a 51x return by 2028. He believes stablecoin adoption could reach $10 trillion globally.
The Ethena team proposes using BlackRock’s fund for backing USDtb, providing institutional-level credibility. Ethena also processed $23 billion in cumulative mints and redemptions without any reported security incident. This adds to its appeal for Hyperliquid’s infrastructure buildout.
Sky Protocol Offers $2.2B Liquidity
Hyperliquid’s validator vote includes six major contenders beyond Ethena. Native Markets, Paxos, Frax Finance, Agora’s coalition with VanEck, and Sky Protocol have also submitted bids. Each proposal focuses on aspects like liquidity, compliance, and ecosystem incentives.
Paxos recently revised its offer to include full PayPal integration with Venmo support and a $20 million incentive plan. Paxos pledged to cap revenue at 5% beyond $5 billion in TVL and to direct early profits to Hyperliquid’s Assistance Fund. This updated offer increased its attractiveness before the final vote.
Sky Protocol’s entry promised 4.85% yields with $25 million for ecosystem development. It also committed $2.2 billion in instant liquidity and relocated $250 million in buyback volume. Each proposal reflects a distinct strategy to strengthen Hyperliquid’s USDH system.
