BitMEX Founder to Book 64% Loss On This Token

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes appears set to book losses on an investment in LooksRare (LOOKS).

The unpredictable nature of the cryptocurrency market means that even the most experienced investors may occasionally make the wrong calls. BitMEX founder and former CEO Arthur Hayes may have found himself in a similar situation, as on-chain data reveals. 

Between June and November last year, a wallet address tagged as belonging to Hayes acquired 15.5 million LOOKS at an average price of $0.29 (approximately $4.5 million).

However, the cryptocurrency market downturn that followed pushed LOOKS prices to record lows of $0.14 by the end of 2022.

While crypto market prices have largely rebounded this price, LOOKS has struggled still, trading at $0.09 at the time of writing. Even the resurgence of market interest in NFTs has not positively impacted the token, which is tied to the NFT marketplace, LooksRare. 

The token’s bleak future is why Arthur Hayes’ recent on-chain transactions have caught the eye. The former BitMEX CEO transferred a total of 18.1 million LOOKS (approximately $1.63 million) to the crypto exchange OKX.

If Arthur Hayes proceeds to book losses by selling his LOOKS holdings, the veteran investor would lose around $2.87 million, or 64% of the investment capital. 

Arthur Hayes(@CryptoHayes) deposited all 18.1M $LOOKS($1.63M) to #OKX 2 hours ago.

Arthur Hayes bought 15.5M $LOOKS ($4.5M) from #Uniswap and #FTX at an average price of $0.29 from Jun 3 to Nov 3, 2022.

If he sells, he will lose ~$2.87M(-64%)!https://t.co/NyXir9fdDq pic.twitter.com/czwhoMhO7P

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 21, 2023

LooksRare Struggles to Impress

It is unclear at this point whether Arthur Hayes would proceed with liquidating his LOOKS position. However, should this happen, it would represent a loss of confidence for investors holding the token, given the BitMEX founder’s prestigious status in the crypto community. 

At the peak of the NFT boom, LooksRare was one of the most widely used NFT marketplaces, due to its token-based rewards program. However, the platform has since struggled with its daily trading volume dropping from nearly $400 million at its peak to less than $1 million in recent weeks.