ETH, which is held by the Chinese authorities, began to move from the Plus Token scheme

TLDR

Roughly 7,000 ETH ($16.7 million) moved from Plus Token Ponzi scheme Movement $1.3 billion arrested The ETH PlusToken scam defrauded 2.6 million users of nearly $4 billion, with the price of crypto ETH falling below $2,400, the analyst predicted. All held ETH will be sold

What caught the attention of the cryptocurrency community recently was the theft of 7,000 Ethereum (ETH) tokens worth $16.7 million from addresses linked to the infamous Plus Token Ponzi scheme.

This move, which was first reported by crypto researcher ErgoBTC, has raised concerns about the possibility of a selloff as it could have a significant impact on the Ethereum market.

In early August, for the first time since 2021, ETH remnants from the multi-billion dollar Plus Token scheme were lifted off-chain.

In the last 24 hours, 7k ETH of the remaining 542k ETH ($1.3b) have been sent to exchanges to show interest in starting to sell the remaining tokens. pic.twitter.com/tu2o7y4o4L

— ∴FreeSamourai∴ (@ErgoBTC) October 9, 2024

In the year The Plus Token scheme, which ran between 2018 and 2019, is one of the biggest cryptocurrency scams in history.

It managed to defraud approximately 2.6 million users, resulting in the seizure of approximately $4 billion worth of various cryptocurrencies by Chinese authorities. Assets held include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Ripple (XRP).

According to ErgoBTC, the recent transfer of 7,000 ETH to the Plus Token-linked wallet marks the first significant movement since 2021.

This move appears to follow a similar pattern to earlier attempts to foil the sale of foreclosed properties. According to the analyst,

“The current distribution of ETH follows the same BTC experiment in 2019, which has the potential to sell off $1.3 billion worth of ETH in the future.”

The news of this move has already affected the Ethereum market. Following the announcement, the price of ETH fell below $2,400, indicating increasing concerns of further selling pressure.

If the remaining 542,000 ETH worth more than $1.3 billion is sold, ErgoBTC predicts that the price of Ethereum could drop below $2,000.

This is not the first time that the sale of assets from the Plus Token scheme has impacted the cryptocurrency market.

In the year Between 2019 and March 2020, a significant portion of the Bitcoin holdings, approximately $1.3 billion, was sold, creating significant volatility in the market.

Ethereum holdings, however, remained largely untouched until the summer of 2021, when a third of the 840,000 ETH moved to the less popular exchange Bidesk.

Following this, the rest of the ETH lay dormant at various addresses until August 2024, when 542,000 ETH were consolidated into 294 new addresses, according to ErgoBTC findings.

On-chain analysis data showed that more than 2,800 ETH from various wallets linked to the seized assets were stored in a single address, raising concerns about a large-scale sale.

This financial consolidation has raised speculations about the impact on the market if a significant portion of the held ETH is sold.