Altcoins Face Potential Selling Pressure After Hacker Attack
Major altcoins like Chainlink and Uniswap may see increased selling pressure following a hacker's liquidation of millions in tokens.
Recent developments have raised concerns about several cryptocurrencies’ stability, particularly Chainlink (LINK), Pepe (PEPE), Uniswap (UNI), and Worldcoin (WLD). A significant hacker incident involving these tokens has the potential to trigger further selling pressure.
Details of the Liquidation
According to blockchain data analyzed by Lookonchain, the hacker executed a series of sales involving major altcoins, managing to liquidate around $158 million worth of assets. These proceeds were then converted into Ethereum.
The highest profile transactions included:
- Uniswap (UNI): Approximately 7 million tokens sold, totaling $39 million at an average price of $5.65.
- ENA: 217 million tokens offloaded for around $33 million at an average price of $0.16.
- Pepe (PEPE): Over 7 trillion tokens sold, generating roughly $32 million at $0.0000041 per token.
- Chainlink (LINK): 2.5 million tokens sold, valued at $26 million.
- Additional sales included AAVE (127,953 tokens for $14 million), ONDO (21.85 million tokens worth $6.62 million), and WLD (17.32 million tokens totaling $6 million).
In total, the hacker managed to convert all seven altcoin holdings into about 70,500 ETH.
Market Reactions and Potential Impact
The sudden influx of selling can often put downward pressure on asset prices. When the volume of assets sold outweighs the demand for purchase, it tends to create a bearish trend in the market. With the hacker's activity, we could see intensified selling pressure on affected tokens.
As of the latest data, all seven altcoins recorded losses within the past 24 hours, highlighting a growing concern among investors:
- UNI has fallen by 4.38%
- ENA is down 5.57%
- PEPE declined by 1.3%
- LINK dropped 3.51%
- AAVE lost 3.38%
- ONDO decreased by 4.02%
- WLD was down by 4.2%
This decline suggests that these tokens are already under considerable pressure. However, it remains uncertain whether further drops will follow or if buyers will step in to help stabilize prices.
The Context of the Binance Hack
The token sales occurred in the wake of a significant security breach at Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Attackers managed to steal $6.3 billion in assets, raising alarms within the cryptocurrency community.
Binance has assured users that the exchange’s wallet private keys were not compromised during this event. Blockchain intelligence from TRM Labs suggests that the hacking group responsible is TraderTraitor, believed to be associated with North Korea.
Recovery efforts have successfully frozen about $3 billion of the stolen funds on the blockchain, but a substantial $5.79 billion remains in the hacker’s wallet. Currently, Binance has resumed deposits but has paused withdrawals, indicating plans to restore full service within the next 48 hours. The exchange has also committed to covering any unrecovered losses for its users.
