Arthur Hayes, Co-Founder Of Crypto Derivatives Exchange Bitmex, Has Predicted That $Eth Could Fall Out Of The Top Three Cryptocurrencies By Market Capitalisation Before The End Of The Decade.

Hayes points to growing competition from artificial intelligence-focused tokens as the primary threat. These assets, he argues, are increasingly tied to the emerging agentic economy, a term used to describe networks of autonomous AI agents that transact and interact without direct human involvement.

The warning is a notable one given Ethereum's long-standing position as the dominant smart contract platform. But Hayes suggests that historical strength is no guarantee of future relevance, particularly as new infrastructure built around AI workloads begins to attract developer attention and capital.

The prediction adds to a broader debate within the crypto industry about whether Ethereum can maintain its edge as the competitive landscape shifts. Rival layer-one blockchains and AI-native token ecosystems have been gaining ground, raising questions about where value will ultimately concentrate over the next several years.