[DigitalToday reporter Yesol Kim] Arthur Hayes (아서 헤이즈) argued that rising oil prices could provoke Donald Trump's anti-AI remarks ahead of the U.S. presidential election and, as a result, stocks, bank shares and bitcoin could be hit at the same time.

Cryptopolitan, a blockchain outlet, reported on June 9 that Hayes believes markets are underestimating the impact of Middle East tensions and oil-price factors.

Hayes pointed to oil prices as the key variable. He argued that markets are not fully pricing in the situation even as Trump and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps raise the level of threats and shipping operations are blocked around the Strait of Hormuz. He said the most important factor that reflexively affects investing overall is the price of oil and other hydrocarbons, adding that markets may ignore it briefly but it eventually returns.

He said higher oil prices could become a political burden for Trump. That is because voters in swing states could react if gasoline, food and living costs rise. Hayes said that if you know only changes in gasoline and essential-goods prices, you can know who will win the election. He said that since Trump has little room to actually lower inflation, message competition could outweigh policy effects during the election campaign.

In that process, Hayes said data centres could become a political target. With voters already worried about power costs, the burden on local infrastructure and jobs, he said Trump could bring up pledges such as limiting data-centre expansion, introducing an AI tax, or cash support funded by technology companies' profits.

Hayes also argued that the AI industry is already soaking up market liquidity through massive borrowing. He noted that ChatGPT's launch on Nov. 30, 2022 overlapped with a period when bitcoin, shortly after the collapse of FTX, was forming a base around $15,000. Bitcoin later rose to $125,000 on Oct. 1, 2025, but Nvidia rose 11-fold over the same period, he said. By contrast, he said that while bitcoin fell 50 percent after that peak, Nvidia rose about 10 percent more versus the end of 2025.

Hayes cited three factors that could shake the AI industry: rising energy costs, a wave of mega IPO supply that could extend to SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI, and Trump's anti-AI remarks. He said Alphabet, Anthropic and OpenAI could face greater cost pressure if oil and natural gas prices rise.

Maelstrom, led by Hayes, said it increased the weighting of U.S.-listed energy producers and exited AI stocks. It also said it sold Hype, Near, World and Zcash. It said it continues to hold bitcoin and ether.

Hayes described Ethereum as "dead but it still works" but said there is no reason to sell because there is no immediate demand for large-scale funding. On bitcoin, he said that if the AI bubble bursts it could lead, via a financial crisis, to a large-scale increase in money supply, adding, "Bitcoin will plunge first and then surge again." The outlet reported that the market's next points of focus are narrowing to the direction of oil prices, AI-regulation remarks during the U.S. election campaign, and financing schedules for SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI.