Arthur Hayes’ Maelstrom Enters 2026 With Near-Maximum Risk, Focuses on Altcoins and Privacy Coins
Arthur Hayes’ investment fund, Maelstrom, is starting 2026 with what Hayes calls “almost maximum risk” exposure, maintaining the aggressive stance it adopted in the second half of 2025 while holding minimal stablecoin reserves.
In a recent essay, Hayes said the fund remains heavily invested in high-risk assets, with a particular focus on privacy coins like Zcash (ZEC) and emerging DeFi tokens, which now dominate the portfolio. “While spare cash from financing trades will continue to flow into Bitcoin, our stablecoin allocation is very low,” Hayes wrote.
This approach is a stark contrast to the fund’s early-2025 strategy, when Hayes predicted Bitcoin could fall to $70,000 amid a “mini financial crisis” before quantitative easing resumed. After reducing risk and raising fiat in January 2025, Maelstrom returned to aggressive crypto exposure by April, going “maximum long” after Bitcoin briefly dipped below $85,000 following tariff-related market volatility.
By mid-year, Hayes described the fund as “backing up the truck” to capitalize on a new altcoin cycle, a conviction that persisted through the end of 2025 as Maelstrom added privacy coins trading at perceived bargain prices. By December, with the Fed signaling rate cuts and liquidity expansion, Hayes said it was “time to go shopping”, actively building risk positions.
Hayes, widely recognized as one of crypto’s leading macro commentators, is betting that a combination of rising U.S. GDP, federal deficit spending, and continued Fed liquidity injections will support crypto markets. He also points to geopolitical factors, such as U.S. intervention in Venezuela, as drivers of a macro liquidity wave that should favor higher-risk tokens.
Looking back, Hayes described 2025 as profitable but uneven for Maelstrom, with strong returns from Bitcoin, HYPE, and PENDLE offset by losses in tokens like PUMP. Moving forward, the fund plans to focus on high-conviction narratives aligned with the broader liquidity environment.
The strategy coincides with Maelstrom’s strategic investment in River, a chain abstraction and stablecoin startup, though financial details were not disclosed.
