Arthur Hayes has put Hyperliquid (CRYPTO: $HYPE), Zcash (CRYPTO: $ZEC) and NEAR Protocol (CRYPTO: $NEAR) back at the center of the altcoin rotation as traders look for themes beyond Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC).
The Maelstrom chief investment officer and former BitMEX CEO called HYPE, ZEC and NEAR his “holy trinity” in a May 22 post, a short endorsement that travelled across crypto markets. The call tied together three active crypto trades: Hyperliquid’s on-chain perps market, Zcash’s privacy-money narrative and NEAR’s AI-linked infrastructure angle.
Zcash drew the fastest reaction. ZEC jumped about 30% in a session after Hayes’ post before cooling, adding to a rally that had already pushed the privacy coin sharply higher over the previous three months. The reaction also revived the debate over whether privacy assets are being repriced as artificial intelligence, surveillance concerns and tighter financial monitoring move deeper into the market narrative.
More From Cryptoprowl:
Hayes has said governments in the U.S., China and Europe are likely to keep expanding money supply to fund AI infrastructure and defense spending, with some of that liquidity flowing into Bitcoin and select crypto assets.
Each token gives that trade a different shape. HYPE remains tied to Hyperliquid’s exchange revenue, tokenomics and demand for decentralized perpetuals. ZEC gives traders a direct privacy trade as shielded payments draw attention. NEAR sits closer to the AI-agent and cross-chain commerce narrative, with NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin arguing that crypto is shifting back toward fundamentals such as users, revenue, real products and token economics.
Hayes-driven attention can move faster than underlying adoption. ZEC’s surge has left technical traders watching whether momentum can hold, while NEAR and HYPE still need continued network activity to justify the renewed bid.
Hyperliquid (CRYPTO: HYPE) is currently trading at $59.19 U.S. per digital token. Zcash (CRYPTO: ZEC) is trading at $550.20 U.S. per digital token. NEAR Protocol (CRYPTO: NEAR) is trading at $2.55 U.S. per digital token.
