- The BitMEX co-founder and chief investment officer at Maelstrom said he wants “the killing to stop,” but implied that he is not optimistic about the war between the U.S. and Iran ending just yet.
- Bitcoin’s price recovered above $71,000 after falling below $69,000 in the previous session.
- Hayes recently flagged that there was a risk of Bitcoin falling below $60,000 again if tensions between the U.S. and Iran continue to drag on.
BitMEX co-founder and the chief investment officer at Maelstrom, Arthur Hayes, said on Wednesday that markets are running on “hopium” after an uptick in markets following reports of a 15-point peace proposal from the U.S. to Iran.
“Markets are smoking a f**k ton of hopium right now,” he wrote in a post on X. “Of course I want the killing to stop, but I’m not buying risk here.”
Bitcoin Rebounds Above $71,000 While Crypto Market Gains
The cryptocurrency market rose 1% in the last 24 hours to around $2.5 trillion, and Bitcoin (BTC) recovered after falling below $69,000 on Tuesday. Bitcoin’s price edged 0.7% higher in the last 24 hours to around $71,500. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around BTC remained in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, accompanied by ‘low’ levels of chatter.
Stocks Climb But Retail Sentiment Dips Lower
Equity markets were also moving higher in early morning trade. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) was up 0.87%, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) gained 0.92%, and the Nasdaq-100 tracking Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) climbed over 1%. Retail sentiment around QQQ on Stocktwits fell to ‘extremely bearish’ from ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, with chatter at ‘high’ levels.
Hayes’ X post comes after he said that he wouldn’t invest a $1 in Bitcoin amid the current U.S.-Iran war. According to him, there’s a real risk that Bitcoin’s price will fall back below $60,000 if the war drags on. The last time BTC’s price dipped below that threshold was early February.
“I think that they’re in a situation where the longer this carries on, there could be a massive selloff in equities and Bitcoin might fall a bit lower,” Hayes said. “It might break $60,000 that could be a cascading of liquidations down.” He has reiterated multiple times that he’s waiting on the Federal Reserve to start printing more money before buying Bitcoin or making major investments.
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