Arthur Hayes, Chief Investment Officer at Maelstrom and former CEO of Bitmex, has shared a very optimistic prospect for Ethereum (ETH), and predicts that the digital active could reach a new highest point of $ 10,000 by the end of the year.
In a blog of July 23 afterHayes ETH described as “the most hated crypto with a large cap”, which compared his current sentiment with Solana after the collapse of FTX in 2022 before the meteoric increase of $ 7 to $ 280.
Hayes believes that the momentum is now shifting. He points to the growing use of Ethereum in strategies for treasury and support of large Western institutional players, including Tom Lee from Fundstrat, as signs of an approaching rally.
He suggested that drawing up institutional trust could cause a market outbreak, saying that investors should be proactive.
According to him:
“Buy first, ask questions later.”
Cryptopunks could surpass ETH
Although bullish about Ethereum, Hayes also argued that cryptopunks could surpass NFTs ETH in terms of dollar value.
He reasoned that Ethereum holders will probably channel their profit in NFTs as status symbols, which reflects broader social behaviors around wealth and prestige.
Hayes undercommon:
‘[NFTs are] An internet status game. The entire world economy outside the production of food and energy is a huge status game, why would the internet company be different? “
This perspective reflects comments from Yat Siu, chairman of Animoca Brands, which compares NFTs with luxury items such as Rolex watches or Birkin bags. According to SIU, people buy these items mainly because of their cultural symbols of identity and belonging instead of their functionality.
Cryptopunks, launched in 2017 as one of the first NFT projects on Ethereum, have received the legendary status in the world of digital art.
At the height of the market in 2021, the floor price of the collection was worth an average of 125 ETH, but the value fell considerably during the market winter to a low point of 21 ETH.
With the NFT space that has been enjoying a form of Renaissance lately, the value of cryptopunks has risen by more than 20% to 48 ETH in the past week, which amounts to $ 177,000.