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6 Jun 2026, 20:20

ZachXBT accuses Arthur Hayes of using followers as exit liquidity after WLD token sell-off

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has called out BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes on June 6 for dumping tokens he had publicly promoted. He questioned how much “exit liquidity” Hayes’s followers absorbed in the process. This comes after Hayes exited positions in NEAR, HYPE, ZEC, and WLD in a space of two weeks, each sale following public endorsements that drew retail attention to the tokens. >Promote WLD position you claim to be super bullish on multiple times with targets significantly higher than current price >Exit WLD position shortly after ??? — ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 6, 2026 Which tokens did Hayes sell after promoting? On May 22, Hayes called Hyperliquid’s HYPE, Zcash’s ZEC, and NEAR Protocol’s NEAR tokens the “ Holy Trinity ” and opened bullish positions on them. By June 4, he had sold his entire HYPE and NEAR holdings , posting on X that a forthcoming essay titled “Reality Test” would explain the reasoning. He stated that higher energy prices from the Iran conflict, three upcoming “mega AI IPOs,” and a prediction that Trump would pivot against AI ahead of midterms were reasons for his action. One day later, Hayes dumped his ZEC position , pointing to the Orchard Pool exploit as the catalyst. He stated that “the privacy from AI, govt, big tech narrative demands perfection” and that the exploit, while unlikely to have enabled token minting, could not be “formally cryptographically proved impossible.” At that point, he said he was still holding WLD. However, that hold lasted less than 24 hours. On June 4, Hayes framed Worldcoin as a bet on SpaceX’s upcoming Nasdaq listing, writing that the IPO was “going to melt people’s faces off.” By June 6, he had sold the WLD position too, writing that “this chart is going in the wrong direction.” How did ZachXBT challenge Hayes? ZachXBT’s post highlighted all four exits. The blockchain investigator directed a question to Hayes, asking him, “How much exit liquidity was created from your followers over the past couple days?” and listing the tokens in order: “First NEAR HYPE ZEC / Now WLD.” Hayes responded to ZachXBT, writing, “I sold to a willing seller at a price.” He added, “Prices could be higher and then I would be called a dumb ass. I just happened to call it right this time as it regards to my trading goals.” Could Hayes face further backlash? The dispute lands at a moment when influencer-driven trading remains one of crypto’s most contentious dynamics. Hayes commands a large following. His HYPE/NEAR exit post alone pulled over 3,300 likes and 536 quote tweets, and his endorsements carry enough weight to move retail sentiment. The pattern ZachXBT identified is specific: public promotion generates buying interest, and the promoter exits into that demand. Each individual trade came with its own rationale, from macro concerns to exploit risk to chart weakness. Taken together over 15 days, the cumulative effect is what ZachXBT characterized as followers absorbing the downside. WLD was trading at $0.42 as of June 6, according to CoinMarketCap data , down more than 96% from its all-time high of $11.82 set in March 2024. Hayes has previously built and exited positions publicly, including a long-running bullish stance on ZEC. A Cryptopolitan report from May noted that Hayes had set a ZEC price target of 10% of Bitcoin’s value, which at the time implied a price above $8,000, roughly 14 times where ZEC was trading. The “Reality Test” essay Hayes promised as explanation for his HYPE and NEAR exits has not yet been published. Observers will be looking forward to whether it addresses the full four-token sequence, and the questions ZachXBT raised. If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter .

6 Jun 2026, 13:50

Hype-Driven Rallies Unwind: NEAR and WLD Round-Trip as Zcash Rebounds 18% From Its 50% Drop

Two of the crypto market’s hottest recent rallies have fully unwound, with Near Protocol’s NEAR and the Worldcoin token WLD round-tripping to their pre-rally levels, even as Zcash’s ZEC rebounded roughly 18% in 24 hours following a near-50% crash. Zcash Whipsaws On an Orchard Pool Flaw The sharpest swing belonged to zcash given ZEC had

6 Jun 2026, 08:53

Shilling Before Dumping? Why Crypto X Is Furious With Arthur Hayes After His Latest Sale

Despite outlining bullish predictions for several popular altcoins in the past few months, such as WLD, ZEC, HYPE, and NEAR, Arthur Hayes has publicly declared that he has sold almost all of his positions long before his targets were reached. This has caused a significant backlash from the cryptocurrency community, as some believe his hype is only to drag people into those assets before he dumps them at higher prices. Hayes Continues Selling, This Time WLD It was just several days ago that Hayes said he would be holding WLD for at least the first week of SpaceX’s IPO, as both have Elon Musk as a key person. He predicted that the IPO would “melt people’s faces off.” Hours ago, though, he changed his tune after showing the chart of SpaceX’s stock getting wrecked on Friday during the market-wide calamity. He argued that the newly listed shares are heading in the wrong direction, which is why he decided to dump his WLD stash. Popular on-chain sleuth ZachXBT was among the first to call out Hayes on his controversial moves, asking how much “exit liquidity was created” from his followers over the past few days. He also brought up other major sales from Hayes. As reported yesterday, the BitMEX co-founder disposed of his ZEC stash after developers revealed a Zcash code vulnerability that was already fixed at the time of his sale. Previously, he had also dumped HYPE and NEAR holdings after making some quite optimistic price predictions. How much exit liquidity was created from your followers over the past couple days? First NEAR HYPE ZEC Now WLD pic.twitter.com/vyDXwCHRwO — ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 6, 2026 Community Lashes Out The analysts at Lookonchain also flagged his exits, especially since they arrived close to the assets’ price tops. Interestingly, all of them plunged in the hours after he disclosed his exodus and have returned to essentially the same levels where they were before his big price predictions. Arthur Hayes( @CryptoHayes ) called $ZEC , $NEAR , and $WLD . He sold near the top, then disclosed his exit and turned bearish. $ZEC , $NEAR , and $WLD are now back to where they were before his calls. pic.twitter.com/IlvCqTHe3r — Lookonchain (@lookonchain) June 6, 2026 Some of the comments below the posts on X were quite brutal, calling it a “douchebag” move for shilling an altcoin just hours before dumping it. Others noted that if any traders followed his moves, they were “small scammers” that were “scammed” by the “big scammer.” The post Shilling Before Dumping? Why Crypto X Is Furious With Arthur Hayes After His Latest Sale appeared first on CryptoPotato .

6 Jun 2026, 07:29

Arthur Hayes Dumps $WLD Just 48 Hours After Calling It an AI Moonshot, ZachXBT Fires Back

Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of BitMEX and one of crypto’s most influential voices, is under fire after selling his Worldcoin ($WLD) position just 48 hours after publicly hyping it as a high-beta play on the AI and space hype cycle. The move has sparked backlash from on-chain investigators and retail traders who watched the token bleed after his exit, and ZachXBT is not holding back. Hayes Calls $WLD an AI Moonshot, Then Quietly Sells Read it and weep $WLD bears. This shitcoin is going to moon … cause AI duh. Don't mid-curve this shit. Yachtzee https://t.co/ern60BUOVN — Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) June 3, 2026 It started with a bullish thesis. Hayes amplified Maelstrom’s $5 price target for $WLD by August framing the token as a liquid proxy for the broader AI and space narrative, one he tied directly to hype building around a potential SpaceX IPO. To his followers, it sounded like conviction. It was anything but. The SpaceX IPO is going to melt people’s faces off. Holding the $WLD through the listing next week. — Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) June 4, 2026 Within 48 hours, Hayes had already exited his $WLD position. On-chain data tracked by Lookonchain confirmed the sell. He disclosed the exit publicly, then flipped bearish, the kind of move that leaves retail traders holding the bag while the influencer walks away clean. Arthur Hayes( @CryptoHayes ) called $ZEC , $NEAR , and $WLD . He sold near the top, then disclosed his exit and turned bearish. $ZEC , $NEAR , and $WLD are now back to where they were before his calls. pic.twitter.com/IlvCqTHe3r — Lookonchain (@lookonchain) June 6, 2026 Not Just $WLD, A Pattern Across Multiple Tokens $WLD was not the only coin in the picture. Hayes had also held positions in $HYPE, $NEAR, and $ZEC before his exit. He sold out of all three, then disclosed his bearish reversal after the damage was done. Each of those tokens is still in the red, and $WLD has dropped more than 11% since the call made its rounds on Crypto Twitter. This chart is going in the wrong direction. Dumped $WLD . I’m out. See y’all at the clerb. pic.twitter.com/TcfYzCmtSv — Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) June 6, 2026 What makes this particularly striking is the timing. Hayes was still holding $WLD even after exiting $HYPE, $NEAR, and $ZEC, giving the impression that $WLD was the one he truly believed in. Then he sold that too, near the top, and turned publicly bearish. All four tokens have since retraced to levels seen before his calls even landed. ZachXBT Calls It Out Directly On-chain investigator ZachXBT stepped in with a pointed question: “How much exit liquidity was created from your followers over the past couple days?” The message was direct and intentional. ZachXBT listed the sequence, first $NEAR, $HYPE, and $ZEC, now $WLD, framing it as a repeated pattern rather than a one-time mistake. How much exit liquidity was created from your followers over the past couple days? First NEAR HYPE ZEC Now WLD pic.twitter.com/vyDXwCHRwO — ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 6, 2026 The implication is clear. When a figure with Hayes’ reach posts a bullish thesis, followers buy. When he exits quietly and discloses after the fact, those same followers absorb the selling pressure. Whether that constitutes market manipulation is a legal question, but the optics are damaging regardless. What the $WLD Trade Was Really About To understand the trade, you have to understand the narrative Hayes was building around it. He was not making a fundamental case for Worldcoin’s iris-scanning identity protocol or Sam Altman’s long-term vision for the project. He was playing a macro theme, the convergence of AI excitement and space sector momentum, with SpaceX’s anticipated IPO as the rocket fuel. $WLD, in his framing, was simply the most liquid and accessible way to get exposure to that hype wave. It was a speculative trade dressed up in a bullish macro thesis. The problem is that when the hype vehicle is a volatile altcoin and the exit is not disclosed in real time, the people who acted on the call are the ones left holding losses. Crypto Influencer Accountability Is Now a Live Debate This episode is reigniting a broader conversation in the crypto space about the responsibilities that come with a large platform. Hayes is not the first major figure to hype a token and exit before retail catches on, and he will not be the last. But the speed of this reversal, call it Monday, dump it Wednesday, go bearish by Thursday, has made it harder than usual to dismiss as coincidence or changed market conditions. ZachXBT’s public callout has already gained significant traction, and the community response has been split between those defending Hayes as simply sharing his trades and those arguing that amplifying a price target while sitting on a position you plan to exit is a form of market manipulation, regardless of legality. Where $WLD, $NEAR, $HYPE, and $ZEC Stand Now All four tokens are now trading back at pre-call levels, effectively erasing any gains retail buyers may have chased. $WLD leads the losses at over 11% down from its recent high. $ZEC, $NEAR, and $HYPE remain in the red with no immediate catalyst visible on the horizon. For traders who bought the Hayes thesis at face value, the lesson is a familiar one in crypto: by the time a call reaches your timeline with this much energy behind it, the person making it may already be planning their exit. The market moves fast, disclosures come slow, and the gap between those two things is where retail money disappears. Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services. Follow us on Twitter @nulltxnews to stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, Distributed Computing, and Metaverse news !