Hundreds of wallets started moving around 2,800 tokens worth almost $2 billion in Ethereum linked to the 2020 PlusToken Ponzi scheme in China.
Ethereum (ETH) dipped around 2% after several wallets began transferring funds from a 789,533 Ether chest early on Wednesday, Aug. 7. According to Etherscan, the addresses were dormant for over three years and last received assets from a wallet tagged “PlusToken Ponzi 2” in April 2021.
PlusToken was a multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scam dismantled by Chinese law enforcement in 2020. Authorities seized cryptocurrencies currently worth $14 billion, including 194,775 Bitcoin (BTC) and 833,083 ETH, valued at $11.2 billion and $2.11 billion, respectively.
Chinese police also confiscated tens to hundreds of millions worth of Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), EOS (EOS), Dash (DASH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Tether (USDT).
A lower district court in Yancheng, China, convicted 15 individuals over the case that reportedly impacted 2 million investors.
Will Ethereum buckle under sell pressure?
Concerns are rising about potential sell pressure on Ethereum. A Chicago-based firm has unstaked thousands of Ether from Lido Finance and may be poised to liquidate assets.
While there have been no reports of Chinese authorities selling ETH or of Jump offloading the asset for stablecoins, such an outcome could intensify sell pressure on Ethereum amid a broader market selloff.
Indeed, Ether shed 25% in the last seven days and had held above $2,400 for less than 48 hours at press time. ETH’s market price was fairly unchanged, showing a 0.7% increase in 24 hours.
