Market Maverick Arthur Hayes Reveals Two Different Altcoins With “20x Upside Potential and the Potential to Reach $150”

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes and $NEAR Protocol co-founder Illia Polosukhin, leading figures in the cryptocurrency world, came together on The Rollup program to discuss macroeconomic developments and the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the sector.

Arthur Hayes attributed his shift from a cautious stance at the beginning of the year to a completely “bullish” outlook to macroeconomic and geopolitical developments. Hayes stated that the tensions centered on Iran, which erupted on February 28th, were a turning point for the markets.

Hayes argues that artificial intelligence has now become an element of “national defense” and war strategy, predicting that states like the US and China will print unlimited amounts of money for military superiority and AI infrastructure (AI capex).

The renowned analyst stated that this printed global liquidity will inevitably flow into Bitcoin and selected altcoin projects, adding that assets like $NEAR, $ZEC, and $HYPE are central to his portfolio during this process.

One of the most notable segments of the program was the discussion on Zcash ($ZEC) and privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. Hayes argued that Zcash had been criticized in the past for structural issues such as its “trusted setup” and founder rewards, but that these problems have been overcome with recent updates.

Hayes stated that in the modern world, where big tech companies, governments, and artificial intelligence track every piece of data in people’s lives, cryptographically proven financial privacy will become a vital necessity, and that he has made Zcash the second-largest asset in his portfolio.

Hayes argued that Zcash’s privacy technology was superior, claiming that Monero’s (XMR) ring signatures were not as strong as claimed and could be deciphered by law enforcement.

$NEAR Protocol founder Illia Polosukhin stated that privacy is a necessity, not a luxury, for the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. She argued that even in everyday life, such as buying a cup of coffee, having the entire wallet balance or transaction history transparently visible on the blockchain is contrary to commercial logic. Polosukhin then described $NEAR’s “Confidential Intents” architecture, developed to address this issue.

This private shard, running on $NEAR, allows users to make completely private and secure transfers through programmable smart contracts without the need for external encryption tools. Noting that companies cannot make payroll payments in transparent chains, Polosukhin stated that this technology will trigger corporate adoption and that value is added to the ecosystem by repurchasing $NEAR tokens with fees collected from every private transaction on the network.

Arthur Hayes argued that $NEAR has completely overcome past venture capital (VC) opening pressures and, thanks to its “fully diluted” structure, has significant upside potential (20x) without any selling pressure.

Arthur Hayes, also speaking about Hyperliquid ($HYPE), a decentralized exchange platform that has recently become a favorite among investors, reminded that exchanges have always been the ones making the most sustainable and largest profits in the crypto sector. Attributing Hyperliquid’s success to its well-structured token economy, Hayes stated that the project does not conduct venture capital (VC) sales, is entirely community and team-focused, and all proceeds are directly given to token holders.

Hayes stated that the platform’s ability to offer uninterrupted price discovery for indices such as oil, NASDAQ, and S&P on weekends when traditional markets are closed has even attracted the attention of global financial media, and he expressed his long-term target of $150 for the $HYPE token.

*This is not investment advice.