Maelstrom, the investment fund founded by Arthur Hayes, will take what Hayes called “almost maximum risk” exposure starting in 2026, continuing an aggressive stance taken in the second half of last year and noting stablecoin exposure was minimized.
Hayes said Maelstrom remains deeply involved in risk assets but focuses on privacy coins like zcash In an article published on Tuesday, emerging decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens are currently leading investment portfolios.
“The risk of a major maelstrom is almost at its maximum heading into 2026,” Hayes wrote. “While we will continue to invest idle cash generated from various funding transactions in Bitcoin, our USD stable position is very low.”
The stance marks a sharp reversal from Maelstrom’s public positioning early last year, when Hayes predicted that Bitcoin prices would fall to $70,000 in a “mini-financial crisis” before quantitative easing resumed.
In May 2025, Hayes confirmed that Maelstrom “reduce risk and increase fiat” in late January. However, the fund began aggressively adding risk, going “maximum long on direct cryptocurrency exposure” in April, when Bitcoin briefly fell below $85,000 in response to Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariffs.
By the summer, the fund was “providing support” for what he called a new altcoin cycle. This highly committed stance has not faded over time, and Hayes has also expanded his position in privacy coins that he believes are cheap.
In December, Hayes said it was “time to shop” as interest rates were cut and the Fed’s reserve expansion began, and said Maelstrom was “busy loading.”
Hayes, considered one of the most influential macro commentators in the cryptocurrency industry, is now betting that the same macro strategies will continue to drive cryptocurrency prices higher: rising nominal GDP, U.S. deficit spending, and what he sees as inevitable money printing by the Federal Reserve.
He believes that this wave of liquidity, driven in part by geopolitical initiatives such as U.S. intervention in Venezuela, will support cryptocurrencies broadly but will especially reward higher-risk investments in lesser-known coins.
The paper is based on the idea that the United States injected credit into the economy to control oil prices.
Maelstrom’s performance in 2025 will be profitable but mixed, with strong returns for tokens like BTC, HYPE and PENDLE and costly missteps for others like PUMP, Hayes said. He now plans to rely on a “credible” narrative supported by the broader liquidity environment.
The shift comes as chain-abstract stablecoin startup River announced a strategic investment from Maelstrom, but did not disclose the exact amount.
