According to reports from CoinDesk, the price of the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, ether (ETH), has increased by over 2.3% in the past 24 hours. In comparison, the broader CoinDesk 20 Index has only risen by 0.76% during the same time period, while Bitcoin has seen a slight decrease of 0.3%.
This rise in price comes amidst news that Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange that was recently hacked for $1.5 billion worth of ether and staked ether by North Korean hacking group Lazarus, has moved 100 million USDT into new addresses. Half of this amount was then used to purchase 36,900 ETH over-the-counter, totaling around $101 million. These funds were then transferred to addresses linked to the exchange, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.
In an “ask me anything” session, Bybit’s CEO Ben Zhou stated that the company’s assets are “far greater than $1.5 billion” and that they have a cold wallet with nearly $3 billion in USDT. The hacker is now in possession of an estimated 489,000 ETH, valued at approximately $1.34 billion, which accounts for 0.4% of the total supply of ether. This makes the hacker the 14th-largest holder of the cryptocurrency.
However, due to the closely monitored and blacklisted addresses associated with the hacker, it is unlikely that they will be able to use the stolen funds. According to StealthEX CEO Maria Carola, any attempt to transfer the funds to a major exchange would result in an immediate block. As a result, some analysts believe that the 0.4% of ETH supply held by the hacker is essentially unusable.
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