Arthur Hayes, former BitMEX CEO, predicted Ethereum will reach $10,000 by the end of 2026, a more than three-fold gain from its current price near $2,700. Ethereum gained nearly 70% in the third quarter after two losing quarters, and spot ETF inflows reached $892 million in September. Cumulative ETF inflows now stand at $13.95 billion. Hayes’s previous ETH trades resulted in losses, including a $241,000 loss in August.
Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of BitMEX, said at the KBW 2026 event in Seoul that he expects Ethereum to hit $10,000 by year-end. He stated: “$10,000 by the end of the year.”
Hayes argued that Ethereum remains the most secure layer one because it has the largest market capitalization. He explained that while Solana captured the meme coin narrative, Ethereum “was the victim of its own success, was slow.”
Hayes’s own trades have not always been well-timed. In August, he sold 2,365 ETH at about $1,821, taking a loss of $241,000 after buying 7,213 ETH at an average of $1,923.
In July, he sold 5,900 units for nearly $10 million after buying them days earlier for $10.58 million, incurring a loss of more than $600,000. At the time of writing, Ethereum was down 1% over 24 hours but up more than 11% across two weeks.
Ethereum gained just under 70% in the third quarter of 2026 after falling 29.26% in Q1 and 25.28% in Q2. Spot ETF activity added another source of buying, with Ethereum ETFs recording $892 million in net inflows during September.
The streak of daily inflows that started on September 18 ended with a $2.8 million outflow, while the previous week brought $689.9 million of net inflows. Cumulative inflows have lifted to $13.95 billion.
The token still trades about 46% below its $4,946 all-time high. Hayes’s $10,000 forecast requires Ethereum to gain roughly 3.7 times its current price.
