Altcoins Aren’t Going Anywhere — Even After Brutal Crashes

Privacy concerns tied to artificial intelligence may be one of the strongest cases yet for owning certain altcoins or cryptocurrencies. That was one argument Arthur Hayes made at Consensus 2026, where the BitMEX co-founder laid out a broad defense of the altcoin market and named the specific tokens he’s betting on.

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Hayes Sees AI Surveillance Driving Demand For Privacy Coins

Hayes said governments, major tech companies, and AI systems are becoming increasingly effective at tracking blockchain activity.

As those tools grow more powerful, he argued, more people will want financial tools that shield their transactions from outside eyes.

Zcash, a cryptocurrency built around transaction privacy, was singled out as one that stands to benefit. “There is a role for private cash on the internet,” Hayes said.

The remarks came during a broader conversation about the future of alternative cryptocurrencies — assets that have repeatedly faced waves of skepticism, especially after sharp market downturns.

Hayes pushed back against the idea that institutional money and tighter regulation will wipe out most of the market. His position was simple: altcoins will keep coming, and some will generate real, lasting value.

Arthur Hayes says altcoins will never die…

Respectfully…

Some of them absolutely need to 😭

There are 10 million+ tokens fighting for the same liquidity.

At some point the market has to stop funding:
AI Inu Elon Pepe GPT 4.0

The next alt season won’t save everything.… pic.twitter.com/pkx2C3jtt9

— MANDO CT 🇮🇪 🇦🇪 🇬🇧 (@XMaximist) May 6, 2026

Hyperliquid Tops His List Of Altcoin Bets

Of all the tokens Hayes discussed, Hyperliquid drew the most detailed attention. He described decentralized trading platforms as among the most consistently profitable models in crypto history, pointing to the wealth they’ve created for early participants.

Hyperliquid, in his view, represents the next step in that lineage — combining fast infrastructure with a token structure he finds genuinely attractive.

One feature Hayes highlighted: roughly 97% of the platform’s protocol revenue flows back to token holders through buybacks. He also pointed out that no portion of the token supply was set aside for venture capital investors — an arrangement that distinguishes it from many other projects.

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The Stock Market Parallel Underpins His Case For Altcoins

Hayes compared the altcoin space to the broader stock market, where most companies ultimately fail but a handful go on to produce outsized returns.

Tokens, he said, should be thought of like software startups — high failure rate, but worth participating in because of what the winners can deliver.

Based on reports from the event, Hayes framed crypto markets as efficient environments for experimentation and capital formation, where new ideas can be tested and funded outside traditional financial systems.

Featured image from MetaAI, chart from TradingView