Helius CEO: Stop Following Crypto Influencers After Hayes Exits HYPE

The crypto community was left stunned after Arthur Hayes revealed he had exited his positions in Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Near Protocol (NEAR), sparking frustration among investors who had followed his bullish calls. However, Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius, says the reaction misses a bigger lesson: investors should stop relying on crypto influencers for investment decisions. A familiar cycle, by all accounts.

"You Shouldn't Be Shocked" Responding to the controversy, Mumtaz noted that this is far from the first time Hayes has made major portfolio shifts after publicly discussing an asset. According to him, traders who buy solely because a well-known figure is bullish are playing a different game altogether. "The people who are buying things based on what Arthur Hayes tells them to do know the game they're playing. It's a PvP game. There's no real investing going on," Mumtaz said. He argued that Hayes built his reputation as a trader, not a long-term investor, and that his actions should not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with his approach. Some followers, apparently, missed that memo.

Long-Term Investing Beats Copy Trading Mumtaz distinguished trading from investing, arguing that most meaningful wealth in crypto comes from identifying undervalued assets and holding them through multiple market cycles. He pointed to examples such as Solana when it traded around $8, Zcash near $18, and even Hyperliquid and NEAR when they were valued several times lower than their current levels. According to Mumtaz, the easiest way for investors to gain an edge is not by following market personalities but by developing conviction, understanding fundamentals, and maintaining a long-term time horizon. He even cautioned investors against blindly following his own views, saying people should only buy assets if the underlying thesis makes sense to them personally.

Privacy, Solana, and Hyperliquid Still Stand Out While discussing the broader market, Mumtaz reiterated several themes he has highlighted over the past year. He noted that privacy-focused crypto projects have already started benefiting from renewed interest, describing privacy as crypto's "last frontier." He also argued that networks such as Solana and Hyperliquid remain well-positioned as decentralized platforms continue attracting developers and entrepreneurs. In his view, centralized exchanges may struggle to keep pace with open ecosystems where hundreds of builders can launch products simultaneously.

As he put it, nobody builds lasting wealth by simply following someone else's trades. The old "DYOR" acronym, it turns out, still has legs.