Overview
- Maelstrom disclosed on Tuesday that it sold HYPE, NEAR, WLD and ZEC while keeping core positions in Bitcoin and Ether to preserve capital.
- Hayes argues that about $1.5 trillion of debt issued to fund AI data centers matched U.S. M2 growth, leaving less fresh liquidity available for crypto markets.
- He lays out a “Triple Pressure” risk: rising energy costs, a large wave of AI-related IPOs, and election-driven political pressure that together could pop AI valuations by September.
- Hayes warns that an AI correction would likely hit bank loan lines first, causing a credit contraction that could push Bitcoin and other risk assets lower before any policy-driven liquidity rebound.
- As a defensive plan, Maelstrom will hold BTC and ETH, sell selected altcoins (the ZEC sale cited concerns about the Orchard Pool bug), and use derivatives for tactical short hedges while reassessing positions in early September.