There are fears that a significant amount of Ethereum (ETH), linked to the notorious PlusToken Ponzi scheme, will eventually be transferred to exchanges. A small portion has already been sent to these platforms, possibly to be converted into cash.
FreeSamourai noted that around 7,000 ETH of the 542,000 ETH (worth $1.3 billion) seized from PlusToken made its way to exchanges including BitGet, Binance and OKX.
Understanding the PlusToken Scheme
The PlusToken scheme, a Ponzi structure similar to BitConnect, gained prominence in China between 2018 and 2019. The scheme attracted 2.6 million participants. Authorities eventually dismantled it, seizing large amounts of cryptocurrency, including over 194,000 Bitcoin (BTC) and over 833,000 ETH.
In a 2020 court document, officials reported transferring the seized assets to Zhifan Technology Beijing for liquidation, with the funds earmarked for refunds. At the time, it was believed that officials had sold the BTC on exchanges, while some of the ETH was liquidated, leaving the remaining 542,000 ETH.
In early August, EmberCN noted that ETH had moved for the first time since 2021.
Ethereum (ETH) movement from PlusToken-related wallets. Source: ErgoBTC
$1.3 billion in ETH potentially up for sale
Due to this development, the price of ETH has accumulated a drop of around 4% since Wednesday (9). Currently, the altcoin is trading close to US$ 2.4 thousand.
On October 9, FreeSamourai reported the movement of an additional 15,700 ETH from a monitored wallet, although it has not yet reached exchanges. FreeSamourai predicts that this movement could indicate an imminent sale of the remaining ETH.
“Given the recent effort to re-obfuscate ETH, it is unlikely that the active distribution of the 15,700 ETH moved yesterday will be the last of the 540,000 ETH distribution.” FreeSamourai said.
News of potential selling pressure from large entities often triggers concerns among investors. In July, the German government liquidated $3 billion worth of Bitcoin. In response, the cryptocurrency’s price fell from $65,600 to $57,800.
Recently, the US Supreme Court also allowed the sale of 69,370 BTC seized from Silk Road.
The crypto community remains fearful about the impact of the potential $1.3 billion selling pressure on ETH.
“This is why we can’t have good things. Potential $1.3 billion sell pressure on ETH from PlusToken. Potential $4 billion sell pressure on BTC from Silk Road sales by US government. Sad.” one crypto investor said.
The article $1.3 Billion in Ethereum Could Hit the Market Soon – What to Expect? appeared first on BeInCrypto.
