Arthur Hayes Says Ethereum Could Get Bumped From The Top 3 By 2030 – But Not By Solana

• BitMEX and Maelstrom founder Arthur Hayes said in an interview that an AI token or agentic crypto project is likely to rise within the ranks of cryptocurrencies and overtake Ethereum by 2030.
• The top three cryptocurrencies by market capitalization currently include Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP.
• Hayes also reiterated that he remains bullish on Bitcoin in the long term but expects altcoins like privacy-focused Zcash and Hyperliquid to have more upside in the short run.

BitMEX founder and former CEO Arthur Hayes forecast that Ethereum (ETH) would no longer be among the top three cryptocurrencies in another four years, and it won’t be because Solana (SOL) managed to flip the leading altcoin. 

“I think there'll be some AI focused coins that quickly power the agentic economy, that quickly rocket up to the top 3,” Hayes said in a interview with Kyle Chasse, though he did not mention any specific AI token or agentic crypto project. Hayes is currently serves as the chief investment officer at Maelstrom, which he also founded.

Ethereum’s price traded flat in the last 24 hours, at around $2,300. Retail sentiment around the altcoin on Stocktwits fell to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral’ territory over the past day, accompanied by chatter at ‘normal’ levels. 

Meanwhile, Solana’s price edged 0.5% higher in the last 24 hours, holding above $86. Retail sentiment around SOL trended in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, accompanied by chatter at ‘normal’ levels. 

The top three cryptocurrencies by market capitalization currently include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP (XRP), if you leave stablecoin Tether (USDT) out of the mix.

Hayes Sees AI Tokens Reshaping Crypto Rankings

According to Hayes, AI will reduce jobs and create deflation, but governments will counter it with massive money printing. The combination of AI and liquidity will likely come together to drive new crypto sectors, especially agentic AI tokens.

Hayes also reiterated that he remains bullish on Bitcoin long-term but expects altcoins like privacy-focused Zcash (ZEC) and Hyperliquid (HYPE) to have more upside in the short run. Hayes has a year-end price target of $124,000 for Bitcoin and expects HYPE’s price to hit $150.

“The decision tree for us right now is do we sell on the Bitcoin to buy things that will go up faster if we're in a more supportive liquidity environment, right? Should we own more ZCash? Should we own more hype?  Are there some other tokens that we should be buying that are riskier that we think can outperform the price of Bitcoin?” Hayes said.

Bitcoin’s price moved 0.5% higher in the last 24 hours to around $78,200. Retail sentiment around the apex cryptocurrency on Stocktwits remained in ‘bullish’ territory over the past day, but chatter dipped to ‘normal’ from ‘high’ levels. 

Meanwhile, HYPE’s price edged 0.6% lower in the last 24 hours, holding above $40. Retail sentiment around the decentralized exchange token trended in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, accompanied by ‘low’ levels of chatter. 

ZEC’s price outperformed the market, rising more than 8.6% in the last 24 hours to around $354. Retail sentiment around the token flipped to ‘bullish’ from ‘bearish’ over the past day, but chatter stayed at ‘low’ levels.

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