Arthur Hayes, co-founder of the investment fund Maelstrom, made a series of significant investments in Ethena (ENA) tokens totaling nearly $1 million ahead of a crucial vote by the validators of the Hyperliquid platform regarding the selection of the USDH stablecoin.
This is reported by Finway
Preparing for the Vote: Ethena Among the Top Contenders
According to the analytical platform Arkham Intelligence, in the two days leading up to the vote, Arthur Hayes purchased over 1.25 million ENA tokens. Specifically, on September 8, 2025, he invested $521,000, and on September 10, he invested another $473,000, bringing the total to $995,000.
The Ethena project is one of the key candidates vying for the right to use the USDH ticker on Hyperliquid. Its proposal, supported by BlackRock, includes using the USDtb stablecoin as collateral through the BlackRock BUIDL fund, transferring 95% of revenues to Hyperliquid, and covering the costs of migrating trading pairs from USDC.
“Ethena’s proposal is a strong bid from one of the most dynamic and impressive ecosystems in the crypto industry,” noted David Lavandt, head of research at FalconX.
According to Lavandt, the market capitalization of the USDe stablecoin has already exceeded $13 billion, and the Ethena platform has successfully conducted redemptions and buybacks totaling over $23 billion without incidents or security issues.
Competition for USDH and Voting Prospects
In addition to Ethena, Native Markets, Paxos Labs, Sky, Frax Finance, and Agora are competing for the USDH ticker. Currently, Native Markets is considered the frontrunner with a 90% chance of winning, according to Myriad Markets.
Among other participants, Paxos Labs, supported by PayPal, proposed directing a larger portion of profits to the Hyperliquid fund and has arranged with Kraken for the listing of USDH and HYPE from day one. Sky (USDS, formerly DAI), Frax Finance, and Agora have also submitted their initiatives, with Agora highlighting the risks of Native Markets’ dependence on Stripe but promising to fully transfer profits to Hyperliquid.
Market participants have varying opinions on Arthur Hayes’ motives. Some analysts believe that his acquisition of ENA tokens is not necessarily related to the vote but is part of a personal investment strategy.
“His move appears to be personal positioning rather than support for Ethena specifically for the USDH votes,” said Kirby Ong, founder of HypurrCollective.
Ong also emphasized that the outcomes of the vote will depend on the alignment of validators’ actions with those of stakers and the ability of market predictions to translate into real on-chain votes. According to him, the final result will be determined by the team that can gain the most trust and demonstrate long-term benefits for the Hyperliquid ecosystem.
Additionally, it is noted that VanEck is preparing an application to launch a spot Hyperliquid ETF in the U.S. market and an ETP in Europe, indicating a growing interest in Hyperliquid’s infrastructure.