Theft of $ 330 million worth of bitcoins triggers growth of Monero cryptocurrency

A large-scale transfer of 3,520 bitcoins BTC $103,565.73 Bitcoin 0.01% Market capitalization $2.06 trillion VOL. 24 hours $1.47 billion worth more than $ 330 million attracted the attention of analysts and could be related to the theft of crypto assets. This was reported by a well-known online researcher ZachXBT, who noted that after the suspicious transfer, funds began to be actively exchanged through several platforms for the confidential cryptocurrency Monero, which caused a jump in its rate.

According to the expert, shortly after the transfer, large volumes of bitcoins were split into hundreds of small transactions, and the fees for these transactions reached seven-figure amounts in US dollars, which is atypical for ordinary users. A significant part of the assets was converted into Monero through instant exchanges with fees of 1−3% of the transaction volume. This led to a sharp rise in the XMR price: at its peak, it reached $ 329, after which it was adjusted to $ 267. Over the past day, the Monero rate has risen by about 20%.

Experts believe that the alleged victim of the fraud was an experienced user of cryptocurrency services, including such platforms as Gemini, River, and Coinbase. A combination of factors — user experience, the nature of transactions, and high commission costs — allowed analysts to conclude that the theft was likely.

Amid the rise in the value of Monero, the rates of other anonymous cryptocurrencies have also increased. Thus, ZCash rose by about 12% and Dash by 11% per day. This indicates a growing interest in confidential assets in light of possible attempts to hide traces of large sums.

Previously, such cases have attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies: in 2024, fraudsters were arrested in Japan by analyzing Monero transactions, and Finnish investigators were able to track the movement of funds related to hacker attacks despite the increased anonymity of these assets.