Arthur Hayes Reveals Key Reason For Bitcoin’s Decline As Banks And BlackRock Come Under Fire ⋆ ZyCrypto

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has pointed fingers at large US banks for Bitcoin’s recent price slump. Bitcoin (BTC) price slumped below $65,000 in a double-digit percentage drawdown over the last seven days.

Banks Betting On BlackRock’s IBIT To Blame 

According to an X post, Hayes theorized that Bitcoin’s decline is intricately linked to hedging by US financial institutions on BlackRock’s IBIT structured products. He noted that the recent price drop was not triggered by organic buying and selling of BTC, pegging the slump to dealer hedging.

At the heart of Hayes’ claim are structured products issued by major banks and tied to BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF. Typically, when a bank sells a structured note, they manage risk by buying or selling the underlying asset to offset its exposure.

Hayes argues that a specific price level for the product triggered banks to sell large amounts of Bitcoin, sparking the weeklong price decline. The BitMEX co-founder disclosed plans to publish a list of Morgan Stanley’s issued notes to identify the trigger points for mass BTC sales.

“BTC dump probably due to dealer hedging off the back of IBIT structured products,” said Hayes. “I will be compiling a complete list of all issued notes by the bank to better understand trigger points that could cause rapid price rises and falls.”

However, his decision raised eyebrows with one pundit questioning its importance “after the move had already happened.” In his defence, Hayes noted that if his research flags an interesting trigger point, he will take a position against it and publish his findings.

“When we flag an interesting trigger point, we will take positions against it and tell you guys about it after,” said Hayes

Bitcoin’s Decline Roils The Market

According to CoinMarketCap data, the BTC price fell below its 2021 all-time high of $69,000, reaching a multi-year low of $60,074. The asset is down 15% on the seven-day charts, with a near-50% decline from peak levels.

Meanwhile, the rest of the market has recorded a jarring decline in the wake of BTC’s slump. Ethereum (ETH) is barely holding above $2,000, while XRP and BNB have shed over 14% of their market value in under a week.

At press time, the global crypto market capitalization stands at $2.35 trillion, with 24-hour trading volume down 40%.