Unchained
Unchained
Laura Shin
Arthur Hayes and Adam Schlegel on Why Private Equity Is Crypto's Next Big Wave - Ep. 933
1 hour 9 minutes Posted Oct 28, 2025 at 4:00 pm.
Intro
Maelstrom’s $250M private equity fund to buy crypto firms
Adam’s background and path from Morgan Stanley to Haveli to Maelstrom
Why Maelstrom believes the next crypto boom is in private equity
Arthur on how crypto investing evolved from beta → VC → PE
Geographic focus: Asia and LatAm’s overlooked crypto firms
How Maelstrom evaluates targets and performs due diligence
Inside Maelstrom’s $250M anchor fund and LP co-invest model
The types of companies Maelstrom is targeting
Fund structure and Arthur’s role in Maelstrom PE
“The four-year cycle is dead”: Arthur on today’s crypto market
Investor requirements and $5M minimum commitment
Coinbase’s Echo acquisition and what it means for exchanges
The perps war, how DEXs are forcing CEXs toward zero-fee trading
Binance, ADL liquidations, and leverage risk
Prediction markets: Polymarket vs Kalshi vs Limitless
Stablecoins and rates, why Tether and Circle could lose to Ethena
Who wins the next phase of crypto’s evolution
Closing thoughts
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Show notes
Crypto has spent years obsessing over tokens, airdrops, and speculation. But what about the unsexy businesses actually making money?
Arthur Hayes and Adam Schlegel join Laura Shin to talk about Maelstrom's $250M private equity fund targeting crypto's most profitable, yet overlooked, companies, $50M revenue businesses with 50% margins that VCs can't touch and exchanges won't pay cash for.
But while everyone frames this as just another fund, Hayes and Schlegel argue it's actually the missing piece in crypto's maturation: a cash buyer for founders who've done their time and want out without four-year earnouts. 
Plus: Why Asian crypto companies with monster margins get ignored by Western capital.
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Guests:
Arthur Hayes, Co-Founder of BitMEX & CIO at Maelstrom
Adam Schlegel, Head of Private Equity at Maelstrom
Links:
Previous appearances on Unchained:
The Chopping Block: Arthur Hayes & Tom Lee; Hyperliquid vs Aster, DATs & ETH
Arthur Hayes and Hanson Birringer on Hyperliquid’s Success (And What Could Stop It)
Bloomberg: Arthur Hayes’ Family Office Seeks $250M for Buyout Fund
Coindesk: Arthur Hayes’ Maelstrom Seeks $250M Private Equity Fund to Acquire Crypto Firms: Bloomberg
Akshat’s tweet announcing the fund
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