Arthur Hayes Calls Ethereum Foundation 'A Bunch Of Jokers' In A Blunt Take But Is Bullish On ETH

Maelstrom Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Arthur Hayes dismissed the Ethereum Foundation, calling it "a bunch of jokers" while explaining why he was bullish on Ethereum (ETH), saying the network's technology and its stewards have nothing to do with his investment case.

When Hayes was asked on the Unchained podcast published on Saturday whether Ethereum's shift in focus away from its Layer-2 roadmap and back toward the base layer affected his bullish thesis, to which he said he wasn't. "I don't care about the technology. Has nothing to do. It's all positioning in my view," Hayes added.

He went further on the Foundation itself, the nonprofit that helps Ethereum's protocol development and research, by saying that "Ethereum Foundation, you know, memes sound like they're a bunch of jokers.”

Positioning Drives Trade

According to Hayes, his case for ETH depended on market structure rather than fundamentals. He pointed to Ethereum being the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization that had still not “eclipsed its 2021 record high,” and said the economics between the base chain and its Layer-2 networks, including gas fee revenue, were not what markets price. He said the position would benefit if the Treasury and Federal Reserve policy forced a return to money printing.