Arthur Hayes, the founder of the crypto exchange BitMEX, recently made a move on an altcoin he had held since 2022. This move saw the transfer of over 230,000 GMX tokens to Wintermute Trading, seemingly making a profit of $3.2 million.

Altcoin Dropped By Its Largest Personal Holder

Blockchain research platform Lookonchain revealed that Arthur Hayes seemingly sold his GMX holdings yesterday. Hayes was the largest holder of GMX, the native token of decentralized perpetual exchange GMX.

Throughout 2022, the BitMEX founder spent a total of 3,383 ETH, worth $5.17 million, to buy 200,581 GMX tokens. In 2023, Hayes spent another 60 ETH to buy 2,328 GMX, around $105,000.

From July to December 2023, Hayes withdrew 215,428 GMX tokens from centralized exchanges (CEX). By the end of 2023, he had bought 218,337 GMX for $6.5 million from CEX and decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap.

As of April 7, 2024, Hayes had GMX holdings worth $9.7 million, per Lookonchain data. The post revealed that Hayes had unstaked all 237,672 tokens and transferred them to an address linked to crypto algorithmic trading firm Wintermute Trading.

The transaction sparked rumors of a possible token sale by the former CEO of BitMEX. According to the report, the average cost of buying through Haye’s accumulation phase is around $29.74.  After selling, Hayes’s profits would total over $3.2 million.

GMX investors reacted to the news, suggesting that “nothing changed” and the altcoin was “in that buy zone again.”

Did Arthur Hayes Accept Capitulation?

Crypto analyst and trader JJcycles suggested that the transaction looked like “Hayes capitulation.” Later, the trader speculated why the GMX price didn’t “tank hard” after one of its largest personal holders sold his tokens.

To the analyst, the incident looked “like the price of ETH during the FTX debacle.” Based on his perception, the trader decided to buy more GMX tokens.

One of the largest holders of GMX send his bags to a market maker. Speculation goes that he is selling which is the most logical conclusion to make.

My question, why is price not tanking hard?

Feels a bit like the price of ETH during the FTX debacle.I'm buying more.$GMX pic.twitter.com/jZi91vIghT

— JJcycles (@JJcycles) April 8, 2024

In a later post, the analyst clarified what he meant with his previous statement. According to him, GMX’s capitulation looks like ETH’s capitulation in 2023.

As reported by NewsBTC, the number of Ethereum traders selling at a loss increased around August 2023. ETH’s price bounced back from the capitulation and has continued an upward trajectory ever since.

Per the analyst charts, GMX appears to be showing an ascending triangle pattern at writing time, like the one made by ETH during its capitulation. To the trader, this suggests GMX could begin an upward trajectory like ETH.

GMX Price Reaction

The GMX token displays red numbers in most timeframes, as it’s currently 55.5% lower than its all-time high (ATH) of $91.07. The token registers a 7.9%, 28.9%, and 48.9% price drop on the weekly, monthly, and yearly timeframes.

After the news of Hayes’ transaction broke, the price went from hovering between the $40.8-$40.7 price range to $37.1, plunging 9% in just an hour.

Nonetheless, the altcoin quickly started to recover from the initial dip.  At the time of writing, GMX is trading at $40.47, a 1% drop from 24 hours ago. Notably, the token’s market activity skyrocketed 467.6% in the last day, with a daily trading volume of $54.77 million.