- Arthur Hayes, BitMEX founder, joins longevity-hacking craze, invests in lifespan innovation.
- Hayes’ legal pardon has not slowed his investments, as he ventures into crypto and biotech.
- Digital asset treasury companies rise in adoption, with Hayes warning of market hype risks.
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, has returned to the spotlight with a new investment strategy after his high-profile pardon earlier this year. Hayes recently acquired a large stake in a stem cell business with clinics in Mexico and Bangkok, where he has been receiving treatments for over a year.
In a video interview, Hayes explained his motivation, saying, “I want to live as long as possible, as healthy as possible.” While declining to name the company due to an ongoing rebrand, Hayes confirmed he joined its board this summer.
In addition, Hayes’s investment in longevity research highlights crypto entrepreneurs’ efforts to extend their investments beyond financial markets. Even as they reshaped the digital asset ecosystem, some are redirecting their efforts toward healthcare, biotechnology, and corporate finance, pushing boundaries in sectors perceived to have slow innovation or over-regulated.
Furthermore, this follows similar ventures by crypto pioneers investing in longevity science and life-extension technologies. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has sponsored life-extension research, and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong co-founded NewLimit, a genetic engineering company that raised $130 million in May. Balaji Srinivasan, the former Coinbase CTO, has also invested in biotech ventures.
Hayes’s Legal Troubles and Crypto Comeback After Pardon
This investment from Arthur Hayes follows the March pardons granted by former U.S. President Donald Trump to Hayes and the other BitMEX co-founders. The legal issues began in 2020 when Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, co-founders of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, were indicted for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. After the continued legal challenge, the co-founders pleaded guilty in 2022, each paying a $10 million fine and receiving probation.
Despite the conviction being pardoned, Hayes said the decision did little to change his professional life. As he had already settled in Singapore, he noted he was splitting his time between writing essays on monetary theory and skiing in Japan.
Furthermore, his writings are still influential in crypto circles. This includes a 2023 essay inspired by Hayes that led to the creation of Ethena, a synthetic dollar that now ranks as the third-largest stablecoin by market cap.
Related: Arthur Hayes Reverses Stance, Reenters Ethereum Above $4K
Crypto Treasury Firms and Hayes’s Investment Strategy
In addition, Hayes is interested in emerging digital asset treasury firms (DATs). These publicly traded companies hold crypto assets on their balance sheets and offer exposure to institutional investors. According to CoinGecko, DATs now collectively hold around $110 billion worth of Bitcoin and other tokens.
Hayes’s family office, Maelstrom, has invested in three DATs, though it has also warned about excessive enthusiasm. Maelstrom’s general partner, Akshat Vaidya, noted that the rapid growth of DATs could pose risks to the broader market. Hayes, who advises Solana-focused firm Upexi Inc., said that only treasury companies achieving scale and institutional credibility will thrive. He cautioned that those unable to meet index-fund requirements may face trading discounts that are difficult to unwind.
The crypto corporate reserve trend has also reached businesses related to political leaders. Earlier this year, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) secured over $2 billion to invest in accumulating Bitcoin. In addition, Alt5 Sigma Corp. also unveiled plans to raise $1.5 billion to fund a crypto treasury linked to a Trump-affiliated entity, World Liberty Financial. Meanwhile, Trump’s family has expanded into mining ventures and launched memecoins, though some tokens have already lost significant value.
For Hayes, the entry of political figures into the crypto space signals wider adoption. “If you have the president of the empire creating his memecoin and it’s freely tradable, I think that gives license to other politicians,” he said.
