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Arthur Hayes, the BitMEX co-founder who now leads Flop Labs, on Monday described how Flop Network could price AI computing power in its native FLOP token and support derivatives tied to that price, according to Cointelegraph. The essay appeared two days after he said he had sold his altcoin positions.
In the Substack post, Hayes proposed measuring the computing power used for each AI inference task and using transaction records to derive a spot price for compute denominated in FLOP. He argued that AI computing currently lacks a universal benchmark price, and that if Flop becomes the payment rail for AI agents, the FLOP-to-compute exchange rate could become the global spot benchmark. A liquid spot market, in his view, would then make derivatives based on that price possible.
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Key facts
- Hayes published the Flop Network explainer on Monday, two days after saying he sold his Ether, Ethena and Uniswap tokens held in Maelstrom’s directional trading book.
- He cited a lack of a universal benchmark price for AI computing power as the reason for proposing a FLOP-denominated spot price.
- A July 2026 BCG report cited by Hayes projected the market for AI compute would reach roughly $2.3 trillion by 2030, up from $360 billion in 2025.
- Lookonchain flagged about $22 million in tokens sold by Hayes-linked wallets, including $15 million in ETH, $2.7 million in ENA and $2.2 million in UNI.
- In August, Hayes said Flop was planning a “massive airdrop” in the fourth quarter of 2026 and announced he would serve as CEO.
What was sold
Hayes said on Saturday that he “dumped it all,” taking profits on the Ether, Ethena and Uniswap holdings in Maelstrom’s directional trading book and pointing to macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions he called dicey. Lookonchain subsequently reported roughly $22 million in sales from wallets linked to Hayes. Beyond the $15 million in ETH, $2.7 million in ENA and $2.2 million in UNI, the tracker listed $1.2 million in Ether.fi (ETHFI), $398,000 in Aerodrome Finance (AERO), $244,000 in Pendle (PENDLE) and $214,000 in Zama (ZAMA).
The compute market pitch
Flop Labs is developing a network where AI agents pay for computing and decentralized memory services. The design Hayes sketched would tie the value of FLOP to the volume of inference work processed through it, though the essay did not specify how the price would be set in practice beyond relying on transaction data.
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BCG’s July 2026 report considered how soon AI computing power could become a commodity. The consultancy projected the market would climb to roughly $2.3 trillion by 2030 from $360 billion in 2025, a scale that would make a benchmark price more commercially useful.
Why it matters
Hayes is trying to position FLOP ahead of a token distribution he announced in August, and a compute-denominated pricing mechanism would give the token a function beyond speculation. His decision to sell ETH, ENA and UNI also separates his personal trading stance from his role promoting Flop. For readers holding or tracking AI-linked tokens, the essay is a statement of intent rather than a working market: no compute spot price or derivatives contract exists yet per the reporting.
What to watch
The announced fourth-quarter 2026 airdrop is the next concrete milestone for Flop Network. How Flop Labs handles the compute pricing mechanism at distribution will determine whether the benchmark idea gains traction.
Reported by cointelegraph.com.
Source: Cointelegraph