Hayes Sees Ethereum Surging Past $10K in 2026

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and CIO of Maelstrom, is doubling down on Ethereum (ETH) and two high-beta DeFi tokens. In his latest 'Atención' newsletter, Hayes said his firm's structural Bitcoin long remains unchanged, while its more speculative end-of-2026 bets are Ether at $10,000, Ethena (ENA) at $0.50, and Ether.fi (ETHFI) at $2.

The targets are based on a macro thesis centered on dollar liquidity, Federal Reserve balance-sheet expansion, and a sharp move lower in the euro-yen exchange rate. Hayes' call is aggressive, with Ethereum needing to more than quadruple from its current price of around $2,400 to reach his target of $10,000.

Hayes has also argued that many competing Layer-1 networks will eventually lose relevance as Ethereum becomes a core institutional settlement layer. His DeFi targets are similarly aggressive, with ENA trading near $0.15 and ETHFI at around $0.56.