Arthur Hayes, a notable crypto investor, predicts a significant surge in decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, driven by Ethereum's strong performance.

As of July 18, 2025, Ethereum's market capitalization is approaching $500 billion, indicating substantial capital inflows into the asset.

On July 17, 2025, Hayes announced his renewed focus on DeFi projects, emphasizing that the 'ETH season' will benefit the entire DeFi market.

Recently, three DeFi tokens—Hyperliquid (HYPE), DeepBook Protocol (DEEP), and Aerodrome Finance (AERO)—have outperformed the market significantly, with gains of 180%, 137%, and 132%, respectively, over the last 90 days.

The total market capitalization for DeFi has increased by 2.32% to $312.57 billion, reflecting growing investor interest.

The DeFi sector has shown a positive correlation with ETH's performance, with Ethereum ranking as the third-best-performing sector with a 14.2% growth over the past week, while DeFi grew by 10.6%.

Hyperliquid is expected to face a short-term decline before potentially reaching new highs, while DeepBook may experience a brief pullback before breaking resistance levels.

Aero is also projected to dip slightly but could break out of its current channel if bullish orders accumulate at its support level.