Arthur Hayes’ Family Office Targets $250M Fund to Back Mid-Sized Crypto Firms: Report

Maelstrom, the family office of BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes, is seeking to raise at least $250 million for its first private equity fund intended to acquire established businesses in the crypto ecosystem, according to a Bloomberg ￰1￱ new vehicle, Maelstrom Equity Fund I, will invest between $40 million and $75 million per deal across four to six ￰2￱ fund will target profitable “off-chain” companies such as trading infrastructure providers and analytics platforms, rather than token-based projects—a strategy designed to minimize market volatility and regulatory ￰3￱ Investors in Focus The U. S.-registered fund is targeting a first close by March 2026 and a final close by September ￰4￱ will seek commitments from institutional investors, including pension funds, family offices, and crypto-focused ￰5￱ Vaidya, Maelstrom’s Co-founder and Managing Partner, will lead the fund alongside Hayes and new partner Adam ￰6￱ transaction will be structured through a special-purpose vehicle (SPV), with Maelstrom serving as the anchor ￰7￱ fund’s strategy centers on acquiring companies at attractive valuations, enhancing operations and cash flow, and exiting within four to five ￰8￱ M&A Reaches Record Levels The launch comes amid a rebound in digital asset mergers and acquisitions, with total deal volume reaching a record $10 billion in Q3 2025, according to Architect ￰9￱ headline transactions include Coinbase’s $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit and Ripple’s $1.25 billion purchase of Hidden Road —indicating renewed confidence in the sector’s long-term ￰10￱ a cooling broader fundraising environment, Vaidya told Bloomberg that Maelstrom expects strong demand from investors seeking to capitalize on the market’s recovery and growing institutional ￰11￱ Hayes’ Next Chapter Arthur Hayes, who was pardoned earlier this year by ￰12￱ Donald Trump after pleading guilty to Bank Secrecy Act violations, has re-emerged as a prominent investor in the digital asset ￰13￱ remains best known for innovating the perpetual swap, a derivative product that transformed crypto trading, and for inspiring the design of Ethena’s synthetic dollar, now among the largest stablecoins ￰14￱ Maelstrom’s new fund, Hayes is expanding his influence beyond trading and into long-term ownership of key ￰15￱ Hayes Predicts $3.4M Bitcoin by 2028 Hayes has also released his most audacious Bitcoin prediction yet, forecasting the cryptocurrency will reach $3.4 million by 2028. @CryptoHayes predicts $3.4 million Bitcoin by 2028 based on Treasury yield curve control policies and massive money printing scenarios. #Bitcoin #Prediction ￰0￱ — ￰16￱ (@cryptonews) September 23, 2025 The predict ion hinges on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent implementing yield curve control policies that could trigger massive money printing, creating what Hayes calls a “once in a century change of the global monetary architecture.“