BitMEX Co-Founder Hayes Dumps Worldcoin Stake Over SpaceX Pre-Listing Decline
In brief
- Arthur Hayes sold Maelstrom's entire Worldcoin stake one day after pledging to hold it
- WLD dropped roughly 10% in 24 hours following Hayes' announcement
- Hayes cited falling SpaceX pre-listing prices on Hyperliquid as reason for exit
- Worldcoin had surged 70% over the past month before the sale
- SpaceX pre-listings on Hyperliquid are down over 50% in recent days
The Chart That Changed His Mind
Hayes posted a chart of SpaceX stock sliding alongside his decision to exit Worldcoin. The problem: SpaceX does not list on the Nasdaq until June 12. What Hayes reacted to was a pre-listing quote from private markets for a company not yet public.
Pre-listings for SpaceX are down more than 50% in the past few days on Hyperliquid. The connection ran through artificial intelligence. Worldcoin, an AI-themed token that trades around the clock, is tied to Sam Altman's eye-scanning identity project. SpaceX has increasingly pitched its listing as an AI and connectivity play rather than just a rocket company. Hayes saw the AI thesis cracking and moved.
A Pattern of Swift Reversals
This isn't Maelstrom's first high-conviction exit. The firm had just sold all of its Zcash, a privacy coin, blaming a flaw in its Orchard privacy pool. Hayes said the firm would rebuy it higher if he turned out to be wrong. No such hedge appears to exist for Worldcoin.
The timing stings. Worldcoin was bucking a market-wide downturn with a 70% rise over the past month before Hayes' sale. His exit, announced publicly, likely accelerated the decline beyond the initial 10% drop.
