Arthur Hayes, the renowned co-founder of BitMEX, has shaken the market by publicly declaring his total exit from the Monad (MON) project, urging his followers to sell, which contrasts with the activity of Monad whales. Despite his bearish comments and the drastic turn in his investment stance, large holders have chosen to ignore the media noise, taking advantage of the price drop to accumulate the asset massively during the last few hours.
According to on-chain tracking data provided by analytics platform Lookonchain, there is a clear divergence between public sentiment and smart money action. A high-profile wallet, identified as 0x9294, withdrew 73.36 million MON tokens, an operation valued at approximately 3 million dollars executed in a single day. Furthermore, “mega whales” increased their positions by 10.67%, now collectively controlling over 300 million tokens. Thus, these large players added millions of dollars in liquidity while the price descended.
Is this media manipulation an entry opportunity for astute investors?
This conflict of interest arises just 48 hours after Hayes promoted the token with a 10 dollar target, ironically calling it another “useless low float L1”. This erratic behavior highlights the fragility of sentiment surrounding new launches. Far from following the crowd, institutional investors appear to be executing an accumulation strategy based on fundamentals. Likewise, the environment has been complicated by “spoofing” attacks with fake tokens, designed to deceive users and create a false perception of activity.
On the other hand, the impact on the quote has been immediate, with MON suffering a correction greater than 13% touching 0.0412 dollars. As panic seizes retail traders, Hayes has rotated his capital towards the real yield economy, acquiring millions in ENA, PENDLE, and ETHFI tokens. Specifically, he bought 4.89 million ENA and 436,000 PENDLE in two days. This rotation suggests that, while he publicly discredits Monad, he seeks refuge in assets with established revenue streams.
Monad’s current situation represents a litmus test regarding who really controls the market direction: the loud voices of influencers or the deep pockets. Volatility is expected to persist in the short term as the market digests Hayes’ dramatic exit. However, persistent buying by whales could set the stage for a recovery, suggesting the asset might be undervalued at these support levels.
