Ethereum price could face new downside pressure as hundreds of crypto wallets that have been dormant for more than three years suddenly transfer huge amounts of Ethereum tokens.
According to Lookonchain, which tracks the movement of the Ethereum (ETH) tokens, hundreds of dormant wallets that last transacted in 2021 have woken up.
After 3.3 years, these wallets have moved large amounts of ETH, which has come under intense sell pressure amid dumping from Jump Trading.
What’s happening?
On August 7, Lookonchain said these wallets linked to the ‘Plus Token Ponzi’ scheme from 2020, have holdings totaling 789,533 ETH. At the current price of Ethereum, that’s around $2 billion worth of tokens on the move.
“We noticed that hundreds of dormant addresses were transferring ETH. Through on-chain tracking, we found that these funds came from the wallet “Plus Token Ponzi 2”,” Lookonchain posted.
ETH seized by Chinese
Lookonchain shared that its on-chain tracking had linked the funds to the crypto wallet labeled ‘Plus Token Ponzi 2.’ This wallet moved 789,533 ETH across thousands of wallets in 2020 and has been dormant since April 2021.
Notably, the ETH tokens in question are connected to the massive crypto crackdown that Chinese authorities undertook following the Plus Token Ponzi scheme that allegedly defrauded over 2 million people.
The Ponzi scheme reportedly began in 2018, offering a non-existent crypto assets trading platform to unsuspecting investors.
Chinese police seized 194,775 BTC, 833,083 ETH, 487 million XRP 1.4 million LTC, 27.6 million EOS, 79,581 BCH, 74,167 DASH, 6 billion DOGE, and 213,724 USDT. The crypto assets totaled over $4.2 billion at the time.
However, the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rising significantly since the total value of the ETH alone currently sits at over $2 billion. The other assets have also surged and potential selling by the seizing authorities could bring significant sell-off pressure.
The Bitcoin haul stands at over $11 billion, XRP at more than $252 million, and Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Dogecoin are currently worth over $25 million, $82 million, and $609 million, respectively.
Jump Trading selling ETH?
The latest news on ETH also includes market concerns around Jump Trading. The trading firm has recently transferred millions of dollars worth of ETH to exchanges and undertook a similar transaction worth $29 million on Wednesday.
The company has been one of the big players to add to the sell-off pressure that hit cryptocurrencies this week. According to Lookonchain, Jump Trading still holds $63 million in wrapped staked Ether (wstETH).
The price of ETH hovered around $2,485 at the time of writing, flat in the past 24 hours but down over 25% in the past week.
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