Arthur Hayes, co-founder and ex-CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, predicts a surge in the price of Ethereum (ETH) to $3,000 before the year ends.

Speaking recently on the “Bankless Podcast”, Hayes noted that the price growth would be greatly influenced by the Merge considering the event will result in a structural change of the blockchain infrastructure.

“There will be less issuance of it, and it’s the only currency of this size that’s doing this switch,” Arthur said .“We know the emission schedule after the merge and the flows are going to be similar to Bitcoin halving.”

The pundit noted that he was confident that a successful merge would attract enough buyers to catapult price, noting that not even the Fed-linked FUD or political decisions would repress such a move.

“I love this trade because I can be wrong on the FED and still make money on Ethereum since the structural flows are dramatically changing in such a way that it gives the price enough upside to possibly overcome a negative macro environment.” 

With Ethereum’s transition into a proof of stake blockchain less than two days away, the number of on-chain transactions has decreased as investors stay away in fear of wild volatility. Whereas the Ethereum foundation continues to assure the crypto adherents that the merge is well on course, anxiety has also been building around whether the event will succeed.

Despite remaining positive on the merge, Hayes did not rule out the possibility of a blow-up. He, however, dismissed claims that the merge was overhyped and would potentially discourage buyers resulting in a price dump.

“Unless the number of people using Defi applications is going to stop and reduce from today’s levels, there will be a certain demand for $Eth to pay gas fees with supply going down. Demand is constant while supply is reduced. This increases the price of $Eth!.” He added, clarifying that the merge was not priced in.

Asked about his targets for Ethereum, the pundit noted that he had “bought calls for $3000 by the end of the year.” Arthur, who prefers to trade actively as opposed to “hodling” said that the reason for choosing December is because the market usually goes up or down a lot in the fourth quarter.

The second largest cryptocurrency by market valuation was trading at $1,580 at press time, following an 8.09% drop in the past 24 hours. On the other hand, Bitcoin was trading at $20,212 after a 9.83% drop in the same period, according to data from CoinGecko.