The cryptocurrency markets are currently at their lowest point in many years. The fall of FTX has single-handedly brought disaster to the budding industry.
Following the claimed FTX “hack,” the programmer’s wallet surpassed the $280 million mark, making it one of the largest on the blockchain. However, the market’s lack of predictability may have major consequences.
By withdrawing a huge amount of money from the exchange, the hacker gained control of a large sum of money, which he later converted to Ethereum and transferred to another wallet. The bulk of blockchain observers anticipated he would transmit those monies to coin mixing services such as Tornado Cash to sell later.
The hacker who raided Sam Bankman-Fried’s collapsed crypto exchange FTX is now one of the world’s biggest holders of Ether https://t.co/Jru7yGYdjS
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) November 16, 2022
However, the cash remains in the hacker’s wallet and has not moved. Given the growing number of OFAC-compliant blocks that may limit his or her transaction, the hacker may encounter some difficulties after moving funds through Tornado Cash.
Simultaneously, a large number of validators are still processing funds on the network without consulting OFAC guidelines, which is why the hacker will most likely move funds through in the near future and sell them later.
Unfortunately, illicit industry representatives are not known for their reasonable approach to profiting from stolen funds. The bulk of blockchain offenders sells their holdings at market prices on any available trading platform before cashing out their digital assets in the real world.
Fortunately, Ethereum is still one of the most liquid assets on the market, able to sustain a $200 million selling pressure spike without plummeting to multi-month lows. At press time, Ether is trading at $1,250, with little reaction to the growing likelihood of a $200 million sell-off.
