FTX Exploiter moves 5,000 ETH ahead of launch of Ether futures ETF cryptoforbs

About 5,000 ETH, worth more than $8.2 million, were transferred from the wallet address linked to the FTX hacker. This development marks the first time assets have been transferred from a hacker’s wallet following the exploit in about a year.

FTX Hacker transfers 5,000 ETH, Spot On Chain reveals

The defunct FTX exchange was labeled one of the largest cryptocurrency heists ever, suffering a loss of more than $600 million through a hack in November 2022, just hours after filing for bankruptcy.

According to the on-chain analytics platform Spot on the chainthe FTX scalper has now transferred 5,000 ETH in two transactions, transferring 2,500 ETH to two separate wallets with a distance of 2 hours between both transactions.

FTX Exploiter 0x3e957 just went to 2500 $ Ethereum ($4.2 million) to new titles

This is the first time the address has been active since the hack 10 months ago. The title still holds 12.5K $ Ethereum

Follow the following procedures via our platform at

https://t.co/7LnmryLvhL pic.twitter.com/yl2NnMwaqW

– Spot on Chain (@spotonchain) September 30, 2023

Spot on the chain as well open After the first transaction, the hacker transferred 700 ETH through the Thorchain router and 1,200 ETH through the DeFi Railgun wallet, both cryptocurrency projects praised for their privacy-focused features.

Regardless of the origin of these transferred assets, the FTX scalper’s movements have attracted a lot of attention due to the major development in the cryptocurrency space, with many enthusiasts and analysts now speculating about a possible sell-off in the market.

Could FTX Hacker be planning a sell-off as the futures ETF launch approaches?

This week, reports amplified that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was looking to approve some Ethereum futures contracts to launch next week ahead of a potential government shutdown.

These reports gained further steam in less than a day when VanEck Investment announced plans to launch an Ethereum Ethereum futures contract soon, called the VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF.

However, Valkyrie Investments, which was expected to be the first to gain SEC approval, finally won the race, getting the green light from the SEC to launch the first-ever Ethereum futures ETF in the US.

After the official launch of the ETH futures ETF, there will likely be a significant positive impact on the ETH price movement. Just in the last two days of similarly positive news about this investment fund, the second largest cryptocurrency has actually risen by 4%, based on Data from CoinMarketCap.

Now, recent token transfers made by an FTX hacker are usually associated with an impending sell-off. Thus, there is a possibility that this bad actor is planning to profit from the potential rise in ETH prices, which could be generated from the launch of a futures ETF.

These selling actions are a common practice by crypto whales and are known to lead to a downtrend, which can be dangerous for small traders.

At the time of writing, ETH is trading at $1,677, with a 5.77% gain in the last day. At the same time, the coin’s daily trading volume fell by 44.35% and reached $3.8 billion.

ETH trading at $1,675.57 on the hourly chart | Source: ETHUSDT chart on Tradingview.com