Arthur Hayes: 'Meow - $HYPE to $150.' Sold Four Days Later.
On May 22, 2026, Arthur Hayes named three tokens his Holy Trinity. On June 6, ZachXBT named it something else. Arthur Hayes is the co-founder of BitMEX, the derivatives exchange that defined leveraged crypto trading in the 2010s. He now runs Maelstrom, a crypto venture fund. When he publishes a trade thesis, retail follows. He has spent a decade building that effect. On May 22, the thesis was this: HYPE, ZEC, and NEAR. Hyperliquid's token for on-chain trading, Zcash for privacy, NEAR Protocol for AI infrastructure. He had already accumulated 247,334 HYPE tokens worth $10.44 million, built by rotating out of earlier PENDLE and ENA positions. He made a $100,000 charity bet with Multicoin Capital's Kyle Samani that HYPE would outperform every top-10 cryptocurrency by year-end. On May 30, with retail still building positions on his thesis, Hayes posted: "Meow - $HYPE to $150." He included a cat meme. On June 4, Hayes posted again: "I just dumped my entire $HYPE and $NEAR position." His reasons: rising energy prices from the Iran conflict, three upcoming mega AI IPOs, a prediction that Trump would turn anti-AI before midterms. He promised a full explanation in an essay called "Reality Test" the following week. HYPE dropped immediately. NEAR dropped 20% in a single session.
CZ Zhao: Binance's $4.3 Billion Fine
Changpeng Zhao - CZ - built Binance into the largest cryptocurrency exchange on Earth. At its peak, Binance handled more trading volume than all its competitors combined. CZ became one of the richest people in the world, with a net worth estimated at $60 billion. He did this by deliberately ignoring anti-money laundering laws. Binance operated from nowhere and everywhere. No official headquarters. It actively avoided regulatory oversight. Internal communications revealed that Binance knowingly served customers in sanctioned countries including Iran, Cuba, and Syria. The exchange processed transactions for Hamas, Al-Qaeda-linked entities, and Russian darknet markets. In 2017, it was estimated that 95% of all ransomware payments were processed through exchanges using Binance as a hub. In November 2023, CZ pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, paid a $50 million personal fine, and stepped down as CEO with a lifetime ban from executive roles at Binance. Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion in corporate fines. CZ was sentenced to just four months in federal prison in April 2024. The judge said he had never seen such a departure from guidelines - prosecutors had asked for three years. CZ served his time at a minimum-security facility in Lompoc, California and was released on September 27, 2024. He was the richest person ever to go to federal prison.