Ethereum (ETH) At $3,000 By End Of Year? Yes, if You Ask BitMEX Founder

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes believes that the second-largest crypto by market cap Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) could reach a price of $3,000 before the end of the year.

What Happened: In a recent interview with the Bankless podcast, Hayes said he doesn’t believe the Ethereum Merge has been priced in by market participants.

See Also: WHY IS THE ETHEREUM MERGE IMPORTANT?

When asked what price level he believed ETH would hit once the Merge did come into effect, Hayes responded by saying, “I have bought calls for $3000 by the end of the year.” 

A call option gives the holder the right to buy the underlying asset, in this case, ETH, for a particular strike price at some point in the future. By buying calls with a strike price of $3,000, Hayes expects the value of ETH to be higher than that by the time the options approach expiry towards the end of the year.

The price of ETH fell 11% over the last 24 hours from ahead of $1,745 to an intra-day low of $1,564. The second largest cryptocurrency by market cap saw its price plunge in tandem with Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and other major crypto assets after US inflation data sent markets downwards. 

“I am not worried about the FED, because even if the FED raises rates by 20%, there will be a certain amount of demand and if the supply isn’t there to meet it, the price goes up,” said Hayes.

Price Action: At press time, ETH was trading at $1,613 as per data from Benzinga Pro.