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A significant portion of the massive cryptocurrency haul seized from the PlusToken Ponzi scheme is reportedly being sold off, with OXT Research analyst ErgoBTC revealing that 7,000 Ether worth $16.7 million was recently moved to exchanges, potentially signaling the liquidation of the entire $1.3 billion in ETH seized from the scheme.
In a series of posts on the microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), the analyst noted that the moves indicate “intent to begin selling the remaining” 542,000 ETH seized from the multimillion dollar multi-level marketing cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, which first started back in 2018 and saw Chinese authorities arrest their key executives in 2020.
In early August, the remnants of ETH seized from the multibillion dollar PlusToken scheme awoke on-chain for the first time since 2021.
— ∴FreeSamourai∴ (@ErgoBTC) October 9, 2024
Over the last 24h about 7k ETH of the remaining 542k ETH ($1.3b) was sent to exchanges indicating intent to begin selling the remaining tokens. pic.twitter.com/tu2o7y4o4L
The move comes just two months after wallets linked to the crypto Ponzi scheme began transferring large amounts of Ether after years of dormancy. The analyst noted that the current distribution of ETH follows a similar pattern to the sale of Bitcoin seized from the scheme, further suggesting a potential full liquidation of the remaining holdings.
PlusToken, a Chinese crypto pyramid scheme that defrauded millions, was shut down after more than a year in operation and saw authorities seize a staggering $14 billion worth of various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ether.
The seized assets were subsequently transferred to a technology company for liquidation and restitution to victims. Per ErgoBTC, the “overwhelming majority” of the seized Bitcoin, valued at roughly $1.3 billion, was sold through from August 2019 through March of 2020, when BTC’s market capitalization was at around $160 billion, which was the equivalent of $10 billion of selling pressure nowadays.
The overwhelming majority of the remaining BTC was sold from August 2019 through March of 2020.
— ∴FreeSamourai∴ (@ErgoBTC) October 9, 2024
A total of roughly $1.3bln in BTC sold during this period vs BTC’s market cap of around $160b, the equivalent sell pressure of around $10b today. pic.twitter.com/fz9NXDYK7r
The analyst added that the scheme’s ETH remained “largely untouched until the summer of 2021,” when under a third of the 840,000 seized ETH “was sent to a relatively unknown exchanged called Bidesk, and presumed sold.”
The remaining funds sat in mixing addresses until earlier this year, when these were reactivated and the funds were sent to a set of 294 addresses for a total of 542,000 ETH worth around $1.3 billion.
Of these funds, 15,700 ETH were moved from these addresses and 7,000 moved to known exchange deposit addresses.
Featured image via Unsplash.