According to an on-chain report on Saturday, September 30, an address associated with the FTX exploiter became active for the first time in 10 months. As earlier reported, some 5,000 ETH (equivalent to $8.2 million) was transferred from the flagged address (identified as 0x3e9) to new addresses on Saturday.

However, in the latest development, blockchain data tracker Spot On Chain revealed that the FTX exploiter has moved more than $17 million worth of Ether tokens in the past 24 hours.

FTX Exploiter To Keep Moving Stolen Funds, Spot On Chain Speculates

In one of the most significant exploits in the crypto space, the now-defunct FTX exchange fell victim to a hack a few hours after declaring bankruptcy, leading to a loss of more than $600 million. 

According to an on-chain revelation, the exploiter has been moving huge chunks of their loot in the past 24 hours. The transferred funds have reached a total of 10,250 ETH (worth roughly $17.2 million), spread across five addresses.

A breakdown by Spot On Chain shows that a significant 7,749 ETH (equivalent to about $13 million) was moved to the Thorchain router and Railgun contract. These two decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols are renowned for their privacy-focused features.

Within the past day, the FTX exploiter has executed swap transactions involving 2,500 ETH (worth approximately $4.19 million). These funds were converted to 153.4 tBTC (an ERC-20 token standard for Bitcoin) at an average price of $27,281.

FTX Exploiter 0x3e9 has transferred out a total of 10,250 $ETH ($17.1M) via 5 addresses over the past 24 hours:

– sent 7,749 $ETH ($13M) to the Thorchain router and Railgun contract

– swapped 2,500 $ETH ($4.19M) to 153.4 $tBTC at $27,281 on avg

Notably, the address has been… https://t.co/xzmDz8Vmma pic.twitter.com/4Ykp0zih6G

— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) October 1, 2023

The recent movement of funds by the attacker is believed to be triggered by the highly likely approval of Ether futures ETFs in the US. However, there has been no substantial evidence to back up these connections.

There have been speculations that the exploiter might be looking to dump their tokens should the ETH price rally after futures ETFs are greenlighted. 

In any case, spectators will probably keep an eye on the address’ activity, especially after Spot On Chain suggested the exploiter may keep transferring ETH.

Ethereum Price Overview

The Ethereum price showed good strength to end September after largely struggling throughout the month. The cryptocurrency has made a positive start to October, approaching the psychological $1,700 level with a 0.6% rise in the past day.

The value of ETH has jumped by nearly 6% in the past week, reflecting positive signs of recovery. According to data from CoinGecko, the cryptocurrency has experienced a nearly 4% decline in daily trading volume, representing a recent fall in market activity.

Nevertheless, Ethereum remains the second-largest cryptocurrency, with a market cap exceeding $200 billion.

Bitcoin has recorded an overall positive price movement in the last week, gaining by 2.39%, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The premier cryptocurrency suffered a slight dip between Tuesday and Thursday but soon rose on Friday to trade above $27,000 again. 

Meanwhile, in celebrating the new month of October, popular crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe has predicted an incoming bullish run for Bitcoin in Q4 2033 based on certain expected events. 

Analyst Projects Bitcoin To Reach $40K In Q4 2023 Starting With A Positive ‘Uptober’

Via a post on X on October 1, Michaël van der Poppe welcomed his 667,000 followers to October with much optimism towards the BTC market, renaming the month as “Uptober.” 

In general, the well-known analyst believes the crypto bear market is almost over, and Bitcoin could soon record some significant gains, as he expressed in a previous post on September 30.

Interestingly, van de Poppe’s optimism extends beyond October to the whole of Q4 2023, as he predicts Bitcoin could attain $40,000 before the year runs out. Albeit, this prediction is hinged on the occurrence of certain events.

Welcome to Uptober.

Welcome to Q4, which is leading towards a great quarter, potentially fueled by ETF approvals and the pre-halving rally.

Potentially #Bitcoin to $40,000 is reasonable.

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) October 1, 2023

Firstly, Michaël van der Poppe mentions the potential approval of ETF applications. The ongoing Bitcoin spot ETF saga in the US has drawn much attention over the last few months due to its possible effects on the BTC market.

Currently, analysts are quite optimistic about the chances of approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF, which could result in massive gains for the largest crypto asset upon realization. 

Realistically, this approval could occur in Q4 2023, as it contains the second deadline date for most applications. 

However, the US Securities and Exchange Commission could decide to delay its responses to these proposals till the final deadlines, most of which are slated for Q1 2024. The US securities regulator is already employing such tactics, as seen with the first deadline dates for most applications.

In the last week, the SEC also announced it would be pushing back its response to certain applications beyond their second deadline date. These applications included proposals from BlackRock, 21Shares, Bitwise, and Valkyrie. 

The Bitcoin Pre-Halving Rally

In addition to potential ETF approvals, Michaël van de Poppe also mentioned a possible bitcoin pre-halving rally as a factor that could spur the asset growth to $40,000 in Q4 2023. 

Historically, the months leading up to the halving event are marked by a Bitcoin rally, as seen in 2012 and 2016.

Based on van de Poppe’s prediction, he foresees a similar BTC price movement in the coming months ahead of the next Bitcoin halving set for April 2024, during which the mining rewards will be slashed from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. 

However, investors should take note of black swan events, as seen with the last Bitcoin halving in 2020. In the months before this halving event occurred, the BTC pre-halving rally was temporarily affected by the negative market effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $27.138 with a 1.07% gain in the last day. Meanwhile, the asset’s daily trading volume is down by 21.37% and valued at $6.28 billion. 

The XRP price has already been under pressure for the past month, as the future outlook of Ripple is still set to be determined in the near future. Although XRP has moved up with the rest of the crypto market over the past few days of green, there is still uncertainty about the next bull run.

However, this little price movement could be brief, as the number of XRP tokens in circulation just increased by 1 billion XRP, around 1.87% of the circulating supply of 53.312 billion tokens.

Potential Impact On XRP Price And Supply

On-chain data from Whale_Alerts has shown bouts of XRP totaling 1 billion have been unlocked from escrow in three transactions from two separate wallets. First, 400 million XRP tokens worth over $205.9 million were unlocked.

400,000,000 #XRP (205,914,675 USD) unlocked from escrow at #Ripplehttps://t.co/V54DFtoI16

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) October 1, 2023

In the second transaction, 100 million XRP tokens worth $51.4 million were unlocked.

100,000,000 #XRP (51,478,668 USD) unlocked from escrow at #Ripplehttps://t.co/P8BgPU21Hr

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) October 1, 2023

And in the last transaction, Ripple unlocked 500 million XRP tokens worth $257.3 million. With the current market price of XRP at $0.5177, this puts the value of the unlocked tokens over $514.6 million. 

500,000,000 #XRP (257,393,344 USD) unlocked from escrow at #Ripplehttps://t.co/1lSZdeqcMS

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) October 1, 2023

Ripple’s latest unlock is part of the periodic release in its plan to release 55 billion XRP tokens over 55 months. Since 2017, the payment company has been known to release 1 billion XRP tokens each month through a smart contract. While Ripple claims this helps increase liquidity and utility, it also means a major influx of new coins entering circulation.

With more XRP available, the price often drops as supply outweighs demand. Each new release adds downward pressure, and the price frequently falls in the days leading up to and following the escrow unlocking. 

The monthly escrow has led to significant price slumps in the past months, especially during periods of lower interest in XRP. In particular, XRP witnessed a major selloff in June as whales dumped around 120 million XRP after Ripple unlocked its escrow. 

Ripple has been known to periodically relock a portion of released tokens into the escrow system to reduce selling pressure, which helps extend the runway for the remaining tokens to be unlocked. For instance, Ripple immediately relocked 800 million (80%) of September’s token unlock. The total amount to be locked back in escrow this month is yet to be determined. 

Ripple: The Future Outlook For XRP

XRP is currently up by 1.83% in a seven-day timeframe but the price outlook looks remains highly uncertain in the short term. Various predictions have come in for the token’s future, with one prediction even going as high as $10,000. 

(This site’s content should not be construed as investment advice. Investing involves risk. When you invest, your capital is subject to risk).

Featured image from iStock

The price of Bitcoin Cash has experienced significant rise over the course of the last 30 days, resulting in favorable returns for investors. Since July, BCH holders have continuously maintained a positive perspective, which has reduced the frequency of selling activity. This collective sentiment has played a significant role in the upward trajectory of BCH, consequently yielding favorable outcomes for these holders.

The price of BCH has increased by about 13% over the previous week, giving it some of the biggest gains in the last seven days for cryptocurrency assets. According to CoinMarketCap data, the altcoin was trading at $234.78 at the time of publication.

The value of the world’s cryptocurrency market dropped to $1.06 trillion at the time of writing, a 0.1% decrease in a day. On Thursday, ETH increased by about 0.8% to $1,629, while Bitcoin (BTC) rose slightly above the $27K level.

Can Bitcoin Cash Reach New ATH This Year?

BCH is anticipated to undergo a trial of the support line at a value of $229, after which a subsequent rebound is projected. The breach of the current barrier at $253 is crucial for the potential rise of the altcoin. If this level is surpassed, it might pave the way for the altcoin to achieve new 2023 highs, beyond the $300 mark.

Bitcoin Cash has increased by a remarkable 90% in the last six months, demonstrating strong performance. Furthermore, the price of BCH has been up significantly by 136% so far this year, maintaining a favorable return.

Santiment research indicates that whales in the cryptocurrency space have increased their holdings in Bitcoin Cash significantly. Collectively, bitcoin whales with holdings ranging from 100,000 to 10 million BCH held 3.74 million BCH as of September 18, 2023.

Long-Term Holder Addresses Up

But on September 26, their holdings had increased to 3.86 million BCH, showing a noteworthy acquisition of 120,000 BCH in just one week. Their balances are now comparable to what they were in July 2023 thanks to this accumulation, and the 120,000 BCH that the Bitcoin Cash whales purchased are worth about $25.6 million at the current market price of $213 per BCH.

Meanwhile, the increase in long-term holders of Bitcoin Cash indicates a positive outlook for the cryptocurrency’s sustainability. These committed investors, who believe in BCH’s long-term potential, contribute to a stable user base and network demand. This support from long-term holders, combined with whale accumulation, could help BCH reach or exceed $300 in the future

(This site’s content should not be construed as investment advice. Investing involves risk. When you invest, your capital is subject to risk).

Featured image from iStock

Some 5,000 ETH, worth over $8.2 million, have been moved from a wallet address associated with the FTX hacker. This development marks the first time assets have been transferred out of the hacker’s wallet following the exploit about a year ago.

FTX Hacker Moves 5,000 ETH, Spot On Chain Reveals

Marked as one the biggest crypto heists ever, the now-defunct FTX exchange suffered a loss of over $600 million through an hack in November 2022, a few hours after filing for bankruptcy. 

According to the on-chain analytics platform Spot On Chain, the FTX exploiter has now transferred 5,000 ETH in two transactions, moving 2,500 ETH to two separate wallets with a space of two hours between both transactions. 

FTX Exploiter 0x3e957 just moved 2500 $ETH ($4.2M) to new addresses

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

Follow the next actions via our platform at

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

— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) September 30, 2023

Spot on Chain further revealed that following the first transaction, the hacker moved 700 ETH through the Thorchain Router and 1,200 ETH through the DeFi wallet Railgun, both crypto projects that are lauded for their privacy-focused features.

Aside from the origin of these transferred assets, the movements of the FTX exploiter have drawn much attention due to a key development in the crypto space, with many enthusiasts and analysts now speculating on a possible market sell-off. 

Could FTX Hacker Be Planning A Sell-Off As Ether Futures ETF Launch Nears?

This week, reports swelled that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was looking to clear some Ether futures ETH for launch next week ahead of a possible government shutdown.

These reports picked up more steam in less than a day when the VanEck Investment firm announced plans to soon launch an Ether futures ETH, named the VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF. 

However, Valkyrie Investments, who had been tipped to be the forerunner for the SEC’s approval, finally won the race, securing the commission’s green light to launch the first-ever Ether futures ETF in the US. 

Following the official launch of an Ether futures ETF, there is likely a massive positive effect on ETH price movement. Just in the last two days of similar positive news around this investment fund, the second-largest cryptocurrency already rose by 4%, based on data from CoinMarketCap. 

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

Such selling action is a common practice by crypto whales and is known to induce a bearish trend, which could be dangerous for small traders. 

At the time of writing, ETH trades at $1,677, with a 5.77% gain in the last day. Meanwhile, the token’s daily trading volume is down by 44.35% and valued at $3.8 billion.