Most Influential: Arthur Hayes

Arthur Hayes has never been one to fade quietly into the background. After co-founding BitMEX and helping pioneer the modern crypto derivatives market, he has re-emerged in recent years as one of the industry’s most consistently influential macro thinkers. Now CIO of Maelstrom, Hayes has turned his attention from exchange-building to thesis-driven investing — with a sprinkle of social media trolling on top.

This feature is a part of CoinDesk's Most Influential 2025 list.

Few executives in crypto maintain a social presence as lively, chaotic and strangely insightful as Hayes’. His X feed swings between detailed macro commentary, sharp market calls, literary references and the occasional troll-like jab.

But beneath the theatrics lies a track record that traders increasingly pay attention to. Hayes was early to the rise of several AI-adjacent tokens — a sector that dominated speculative flows throughout 2024 and 2025 — and he openly championed Zcash (ZEC), which went on to rally more than 450% over the past year.

At Maelstrom, he’s leaned even further into his role as provocateur-cum-strategist. Hayes blends long-term geopolitical analysis with short-term market instincts, often arguing that crypto’s next phase will be shaped by AI infrastructure, privacy-preserving technologies and the monetary experiments of nation-states. His essays, peppered with irreverence and dark humour, reinforce a persona that’s equal parts professor, trader and chaos agent.

In an industry that cycles through personalities at dizzying speed, Hayes remains unusually durable. He may no longer run a major exchange, but through Maelstrom — and his ever-spicy social commentary — he continues to be one of the most relevant voices in the industry.