Arthur Hayes is betting that privacy will define crypto’s next trade, arguing that Bitcoin’s institutional success has opened room for more adversarial assets like Zcash.
“Looking into the future, this year’s dominant narrative will surround privacy,” Hayes wrote. He added that Zcash will become the “privacy beta,” and that Maelstrom is “already long a fuck ton of that at excellent prices obtained in 3Q25.”
Hayes tied the privacy trade to a broader thesis that U.S. political incentives favor aggressive credit expansion, with energy prices ostensibly working as the key constraint over how far policymakers can push stimulus without triggering voter backlash.
He further framed privacy as a downstream effect of sustained deficits, pressure to keep economies running hot, and tighter controls on capital flows, with privacy-focused assets such as Zcash emerging as an additional channel for crypto demand.
“The inflation that torpedoes re-election odds is of the food and energy variety,” he argued, adding that “the key metric for Americans is the price of gasoline.”
“Trump obviously believes that if he turns on the tap, oil will gush forth from Venezuela into the Gulf of Mexico refineries, and cheap gasoline will placate the plebes by tamping down energy inflation,” Hayes wrote.
Against that backdrop, Hayes argued that political efforts to contain energy prices leave room for continued credit expansion, supporting Bitcoin and broader crypto markets.
“As the amount of dollars expands, the price of Bitcoin and certain cryptos will sky rocket,” Hayes wrote.
Decrypt has reached out to Maelstrom and Hayes for comment and will update this piece should they respond.
Hayes and ZcashHayes has been laying some groundwork for this view since late last year.
