According to Bloomberg, a wallet linked to a major cryptocurrency heist two years ago exchanged $39.75 million worth of the DAI stablecoin for 16,892 ethereum (eth) as the second-largest cryptocurrency plunged as much as 23% on Monday.
Cryptocurrency hacker takes advantage of ethereum crash
For him crypto-hacker-poured-nearly-40-million-into-ether-eth-as-token-sank” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>reportThe hacker behind the 2022 attack on the Nomad cross-chain bridge protocol, which resulted in the theft of nearly $200 million in cryptocurrency, appears to have spotted an opportunity to convert some of his ill-gotten gains into discounted eth prices.
On-chain data showed that after purchasing eth, the hacker moved the tokens in batches of 100 to Tornado Cash, a privacy-focused exchange service that has come under scrutiny from U.S. regulators for its alleged use for laundering illicit funds from cryptocurrency hackers.
Despite this, significant selling pressure has prevented a significant rally for the second-largest cryptocurrency on the market, as large corporations have contributed to the continued decline.
DeFi market researcher Mochi noted that eth’s “destruction” was caused by the capitulation of large investment funds. x.com/defi_mochi/status/1820303267328565512″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>According According to the researcher, venture capital firm Paradigm sold 46,000 eth tokens worth around $138 million at $3,000.
Similarly, the asset manager and ETF issuer Grayscale has reportedly sold 372,000 eth at a valuation of $1.1 billion through its recently approved ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US.
Finally, the market maker Jump Trading has x.com/layerggofficial/status/1820268112635474158″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>sold more than $500 million worth of ethereum in recent days after liquidating its funds amid rumors that it is exiting the cryptocurrency market-making business.
ETFs record net outflows of $430 million
Amid these bearish developments, digital asset investment products have seen their first significant outflows in over a month, according to the latest report from CoinShares. The report indicates that these products, which include exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrency trusts, saw total outflows of $528 million last week.
The outflows are believed to be a reaction to growing fears of a US recession, as well as the persistent geopolitical concerns and broader sell-offs across most asset classes. Trading volumes for these investment products also declined, accounting for a lower-than-average 25% of the total cryptocurrency market.
Regionally, most outflows were concentrated in the United States, where outflows worth $531 million were recorded. Germany and Hong Kong also experienced outflows worth $12 million and $27 million respectively.
However, not all regions were affected equally, with Canada and Switzerland recording inflows of $17 million and $28 million respectively, likely taking advantage of the price drop.
ethereum saw outflows totaling $146 million, raising the net outflows Since the launch of ethereum ETFs in the US, $430 million has been raised. However, this data hides last week's positive inflows of $430 million from newly launched US ETFs, which were offset by outflows of $603 million from the Grayscale Trust.
At the time of writing, ethereum has managed to reclaim the $2,450 level, recording declines of 28% in the past week alone and over 31% in the past two weeks despite this minor recovery.
Featured image of DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
