Arthur Hayes Increases Ethena (ENA) Holdings Ahead of Critical USDH Vote

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of crypto investment fund Maelstrom and former CEO of BitMEX, has significantly increased his position in Ethena’s ENA token. According to data from Arkham Intelligence, Hayes purchased approximately $995,000 worth of ENA tokens over a 48-hour span earlier this week.

His acquisitions include a tranche of 578,956 ENA worth about $473,000 on Wednesday, following earlier purchases of 672,800 ENA valued at roughly $521,000. The timing of these moves suggests strategic alignment with a key governance decision in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.

Arthur Hayes’ recent crypto wallet activity. Image source: Arkham

Ethena competing for USDH stablecoin ticker

Hayes’ accumulation coincides with Ethena’s high-stakes bid to secure the USDH stablecoin ticker in a vote set for Sunday by Hyperliquid validators. Ethena’s proposal leverages its USDtb stablecoin, collateralized via BlackRock’s BUIDL fund. The plan includes pledging 95% of revenue to Hyperliquid and covering costs associated with transitioning trading pairs from USDC to USDH.

David Lawant, head of research at FalconX, praised Ethena’s proposal in a recent blog post, calling it a strong bid backed by one of crypto’s “fastest-growing and most impressive ecosystems.” Lawant highlighted Ethena’s track record, noting that its USDe stablecoin has surpassed a $13 billion market cap and processed $23 billion in cumulative mints and redemptions without downtime or security incidents.

Competitive landscape: Native Markets and Paxos

Despite Ethena’s momentum and Hayes’ backing, Native Markets currently leads in prediction market odds. According to Myriad Markets, the newly formed company holds a 91.6% probability of winning the vote. Its proposal features a GENIUS-compliant USDH managed by Bridge, Stripe’s stablecoin issuer, with reserves in cash and U.S. Treasuries. The yield is split between Hyperliquid’s Assistance Fund and ecosystem growth, and the plan includes a future HyperEVM launch.

Paxos, supported by PayPal, remains another major contender. It recently revised its proposal to offer a greater share of reserve yields to Hyperliquid and to defer issuer profits until the product scales beyond $1 billion. Kraken has expressed interest in listing USDH and HYPE from launch day, pending standard review processes.