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- Arthur Hayes aims to raise $250 million for Maelstrom Equity Fund I, targeting established crypto businesses.
- Maelstrom Fund plans $40M–$75M investments in trading infrastructure and analytics, reducing volatility and risks.
- Hayes predicts Bitcoin will hit $3.4M by 2028, driven by potential U.S. policies reshaping global finance.
Arthur Hayes, a co-founder of BitMEX, is working on the growth of his crypto essence. Through his family office, Hayes plans to raise a minimum of $250 million in the first personal equity fund, Maelstrom Equity Fund I, as per report by Bloomberg.
The fund will invest in well-established enterprises in the crypto ecosystem, which include trading infrastructure and analytics and not token-based projects. This strategy is aimed at continuously reducing volatility and regulatory risks.
The funds will invest between $40 and $75 million on each deal. Maelstrom aims at acquiring four or six firms. These will be targeted at institutional funds such as pension funds and family offices, as well as funds based on cryptos.
Moreover, Akshat Vaidya, Managing Partner and co-founder of Maelstrom, verified the start and reiterated the focus of the fund. The concept is to push a significant sum of funds on off-chain, profitable enterprises.
Maelstrom Fund’s Acquisition Strategy for Crypto Growth
The fund anticipates that by March 2026 and September 2026. It will have closed the first and the final one, respectively. Hayes, Vaidya, and new partner Adam Schlegel will be in charge of the operations.
However, the acquisitions would be done in the form of special-purpose vehicles (SPVs), where Maelstrom will act as the anchor investor. The plan will make the team be controlling and work towards growth, efficiency, and profitability of the acquired businesses.
Maelstrom Equity Fund focuses on buying businesses that are favorably valued, transforming the business activities, and selling within four or five years. However, its aim is to find a number of business opportunities capable of growing and operating within the growing crypto market without being costly.
Also Read: Ripple Leads Industry Discussion on Stablecoin Standards and Global Regulation
The acquisition has come at a time when dealings between digital assets are receiving momentum in the form of mergers and acquisitions, with the 3rd quarter of the year 2025 to record a high of $10 billion in deal volume.
Arthur Hayes Leads the Shift to Strategic Long-Term Crypto Investments
However, the inventor of the perpetual swap, Hayes, remains influential in the crypto industry. Hayes is recovering his presence in the market since his legal problems. And the pardon granted to him by President Donald Trump.
The shift in long-term strategic investment in infrastructure as indicated by the Maelstrom fund is a sign of short-term trading moving into the long-term sphere. Which shows the long-term status of Hayes within the industry.
However, The recent purchases, like the $2.9 billion purchase of Deribit by Coinbase, are a sign of renewed investor interest in the crypto sector. Vaidya is confident that there will be significant interest, even in the face of challenging fundraising conditions. Investors of cryptocurrency are also interested in taking advantage of the growing market and potential growth of institutional support of crypto assets.
Along with the fund, Hayes has made a big Bitcoin forecast. He estimated that this would balloon to $3.4 million in 2028. But this will be subject to any potential steps by the U.S. government that will redefine global finance.
Also Read: Uniswap Adds Solana Support, Expanding Access to Over 1 Million Tokens
