In a week of crypto chaos, Ripple’s XRP faced a significant setback: the co-founder’s wallet got hacked, and over 200 million XRP vanished into thin air. This revelation, brought to light by cybersecurity analyst ZachXBT, prompted an increase in the sale of XRP tokens, highlighting major loopholes in terms of security in the crypto market.
Kaiko Insight on 100M XRP Sell-Off and CVD Metrics
According to blockchain analytics firm Kaiko, the aftermath of the breach saw a net sell-off of nearly 100 million XRP, mainly on exchanges like Binance and OKX. Despite efforts by exchanges to freeze the hacker’s accounts, significant damage was done, leading to a notable dip in XRP’s market cap.
The report highlights XRP’s cumulative volume delta (CVD), a metric showing the number of XRP market participants buying and selling. On Jan. 30, there was a positive CVD as users bought more XRP, notably on Binance. However, despite this, XRP’s price dropped by 4.58% due to market turbulence. Struggling to maintain above the critical support level of $0.55, XRP faces bearish pressure, potentially signaling a downward trajectory toward $0.37. This downward movement reflects the immediate impact of the hack.
The Aftermath Continues
Surprisingly, following the buying signal, XRP’s CVD plummeted, mainly on exchanges like Binance and OKX, where customers continued to sell off their XRP holdings. The drop continued until ZachXBT brought attention to the hack affecting Ripple’s chairman, Chris Larsen. The hack targeted Larsen’s wallet, with funds moved to centralized exchanges like Binance, HTX, OKX, MEXC, Kraken, and Gate.io. Most of the stolen XRP was converted to other cryptocurrencies, leading to panic selling and a significant drop in XRP’s CVD.
Despite a mild recovery on Feb. 2, XRP’s CVD remained below average, with Binance and OKX witnessing the largest sales. Binance managed to freeze $4.2 million worth of XRP linked to the hack. However, ZachXBT revealed that the hackers successfully sold most of the stolen XRP, with massive Bitcoin withdrawals totaling $73.3 million, mainly from HTX, Gate.io, and Kraken.
ZachXBT further suggests these withdrawals include XRP assets converted during the Larsen hack. Later, some of these Kraken funds were routed to a Bitcoin mixer. This sequence of events shows how the hacking incident impacted XRP and the crypto market.
