Arthur Hayes, Co-Founder and former CEO of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, has reaffirmed he believes that the price of the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin ($BTC) will skyrocket to $1 million.
In a thread shared with his over 370,000 followers on the microblogging platform Twitter, Hayes asserted that the collapse of First Republic Bank won’t be the final one in the financial sector.
Hayes anticipates that another regional bank will soon confront liquidity challenges as the Federal Reserve prepares to increase interest rates once again, expressing skepticism about the central bank’s planned 25 basis point interest rate hike. Per his words, the Federal Reserve either doesn’t “get it” or does and is just “hoping and praying the market is stupid.” Either way, he believes a rate hike “almost” guarantees another non-(too-big-to-fail) bank will collapse.
He also noted that First Republic Bank’s loan portfolio, which he says was filled with “jumbo mortgages” granted to wealthy individuals at low rates, has suffered a decline in value following the rise in interest rates. Hayes conjectures that the next bank to potentially fail will possess a loan book heavily weighted with illiquid, sizable commercial real estate loans.
The BitMEX co-founder also noted that the looming crisis within the banking sector could incite a macroeconomic upheaval, providing the impetus for Bitcoin’s meteoric ascent to $1 million. Hayes has been consistent in his $1 million Bitcoin predictions.
Hayes also outlined a strategy to capitalize on the situation, saying he will be “looking through my sell-side research for a chart that shows the US banks with the largest CRE portfolios. I will then take a hard look at 50%-75% OTM (out of the money) short-dated puts on these banks to be purchased after the Fed meetings.”
5/I will be looking through my sell-side research for a chart that shows the US banks with the largest CRE portfolios. I will then take a hard look at 50%-75% OTM short-dated puts on these banks to be purchased after the Fed meetings.
As CryptoGlobe reported, earlier this year Hayes warned he believes a massive crypto price correction was coming, but noted that after it there could be a sustained bull run he is “super bullish” about.
The co-founder of BitMEX has said that the Federal Reserve’s response to the banking crisis could drive investors to the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency space. The former BitMEX CEO believes that Bitcoin’s weightless and invisible nature, compared to other savings vehicles such as gold and real estate, may make it an attractive option for investors looking to protect their wealth.
