- Arthur Hayes invested $1.06 million in ENA.
- The BitMEX co-founder now holds 7.76 million ENA tokens, worth about $3.73 million.
- The altcoin gained nearly 20% in the last 24 hours.
Digital tokens traded mostly lower on Friday as profit-taking intensified and bears dominated the market.
However, Ethena was one of the few tokens to decouple from the broader downtrend.
Against a backdrop of broad selling pressure across crypto markets, ENA climbed from yesterday’s intraday low of $0.4268 to $0.5088 on Friday.
That represents an increase of roughly 19%, drawing attention amid the prevailing downward trend.
Ethena’s rebound coincided with a large buy by BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes.
According to Lookonchain, the U.S. entrepreneur purchased 2.16 million ENA tokens today, worth about $1.03 million.
Arthur Hayes(@CryptoHayes) bought 2.16M $ENA($1.03M) today from #Binance, #GalaxyDigital, #Flowdesk, and currently holds 7.76M $ENA($3.73M).https://t.co/1HymJROJmL pic.twitter.com/uB1DWSU2JP
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 25, 2025
These transactions occurred after the token had fallen about 25% from Monday’s high of $0.5812 to yesterday’s low of $0.4307.
The sizable purchase highlights Hayes’ conviction in Ethena’s long-term potential.
He did not rely on a single venue to complete the buys.
Hayes acquired ENA across Binance, Flowdesk and Galaxy Digital, illustrating a strategy of using multiple liquidity providers to build a position.
Recently, Hayes also made headlines for using Flowdesk to acquire AAVE and Lido tokens in an OTC deal.
Hayes’ confidence in Ethena
The timing and scale of the purchase signal confidence in the project’s longer-term value.
Hayes took advantage of lower prices to increase his holdings despite the market’s volatility.
The latest accumulation brought his balance to 7.76 million ENA tokens, worth roughly $3.73 million.
Ethena provides access to DeFi yields and a synthetic dollar, USDe.
The protocol has gained traction recently, with its circulating USDe supply surpassing $6 billion.
USDe supply is back to all-time-highs >$6,000,000,000
We are now entering supply discovery, please fasten your seatbelts pic.twitter.com/DGnMTmCCg5
— Ethena Labs (@ethena_labs) July 20, 2025
While not all market participants follow fundamentals closely, Hayes’ involvement can sway sentiment.
This recent purchase could boost confidence in the project and attract additional investors to Ethena’s ecosystem.
Retail traders and some institutional participants often use such moves as signals to increase holdings or re-enter the market.
That dynamic appears to be working: ENA attracted heightened attention, bullish sentiment and increased volumes within hours of Hayes’ buy.
Open interest in Ethena rose 16% to $835.17 million, while volume increased 15% to $2.83 billion (Coinglass data). Additionally, the 24-hour long/short ratio of 1.0276 shows most traders are optimistic, betting on a price rebound.
ENA price outlook
The native token traded higher amid the optimistic developments.
ENA was at $0.4933 after pulling back from intraday highs.
The rally occurred even as bears controlled much of the crypto space; Bitcoin fell about 2% on the day to $115,150.
Meanwhile, the $117,000–$119,700 zone remains critical for BTC’s directional trajectory.
A decisive candle close outside that range would likely set the stage for the next major move.
Current developments around Ethena show how large players can influence sentiment and token prices.
Optimistic observers will watch ENA’s performance in upcoming sessions to assess whether Hayes’ timing and scale prove prescient.