Arthur Hayes says liquidity, not politics, will shape Bitcoin and crypto outlook into 2026

In a 2026 interview, Maelstrom CIO Arthur Hayes argued that global liquidity conditions, rather than politics or regulation, were the key forces behind crypto's rally and subsequent turbulence in 2025. He attributed much of that year's momentum to DAT-driven demand and linked Bitcoin's April bottom to market reactions after a Trump administration tariff shock. Hayes keeps an aggressive 2026 base case of $250,000 for BTC and $5,000 for ETH, tied to US deficits, stealth QE, and potential banking rule changes, while warning that most altcoins could trend toward zero as capital rotates into revenue-generating protocols.