Dormant Ethereum wallet moved funds from $2b PlusToken scam

An estimated $2 billion worth of 2,800 Ethereum tokens linked to the 2020 PlusToken Ponzi scheme in China have begun moving among hundreds of wallets.

Ethereum (ETH) fell nearly 2% after several wallets began transferring funds from a chest of 789,533 Ether in the early hours of Wednesday, August 7. According to Etherscan, the addresses had been inactive for over three years and last received assets from a wallet labeled “Plus Token Ponzi 2” in April 2021.

PlusToken was a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that was busted by Chinese law enforcement in 2020. Authorities seized cryptocurrencies currently worth $14 billion, including 194,775 Bitcoin (BTC) and 833,083 ETH worth $11.2 billion and $2.11 billion, respectively.

Chinese police also seized tens to hundreds of millions worth of Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), EOS (EOS), Dash (DASH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Tether (USDT).

A sub-district court in Yancheng, China, has convicted 15 people in connection with the case, which reportedly affected 2 million investors.

Will Ethereum collapse under selling pressure?

Ethereum may be having its Mt. Gox moment, with data suggesting a large amount of Ether is being moved around. Market maker Jump Crypto also sent $277 million worth of ETH to exchanges like Binance and Coinbase, according to Crypto.news.

The Chicago-based firm also removed thousands of Ether from Lido Finance and may be preparing to liquidate its holdings.

While there is no news yet of Chinese authorities selling ETH or Jump swapping the asset for stablecoins, such an outcome could increase selling pressure on Ethereum following a widespread sell-off in the market.

Indeed, Ether has lost 25% of its value in the last seven days and has held above $2,400 for less than 48 hours at press time. The market price of ETH has remained relatively unchanged, showing a 0.7% increase in 24 hours.

24-hour ETH price chart on August 7 | Source: crypto.news