Bybit Hacker Has Laundered Nearly Half of the Stolen Ether! Will ETH Rebound Soon?

TradingKey – The price of Ether (ETH) has dropped 27% over the past month, largely due to market impacts and the Bybit hacking incident. Could a rebound be on the horizon?

On Thursday, February 27, the price of Ether continued to decline. In the past 24 hours, ETH fell by about 6%, reaching a low of $2,253. This is approaching the January 3 low of around $2,000, which serves as a strong support level.

ETH price chart, source: TradingView.

Over the past month, ETH's 27% drop significantly outpaces Bitcoin's 17% decline. Two primary factors are driving this: First, several U.S. states have rejected Bitcoin strategic reserve plans, causing Bitcoin's drop to drag down the entire crypto market. Second, hackers have stolen and sold a significant amount of ETH.

ETH, BTC price changes in the past month, source: CoinMarketCap.

On-chain data reveals that in the past 24 hours, the Bybit hacker laundered 71,000 ETH. In total, they have now laundered 206,000 ETH, leaving 292,000 ETH remaining (worth around $680 million).

According to the FBI, the hacker has converted the stolen ETH into Bitcoin and other digital assets, dispersing them across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains. These assets are expected to be further laundered and eventually converted into fiat currency.

The FBI has identified a North Korean hacker group as being responsible for the theft and is urging the crypto community to block all addresses associated with the hackers' laundering activities. However, these actions have not yet shown significant results, meaning the stolen ETH will likely continue to be sold. That said, given ETH's total market cap of $280 billion, the funds controlled by the hacker do not pose a severe threat to the overall market.

Since the spike on January 3, ETH is nearing a second bottom, with a short-term rebound being possible. However, if Bitcoin fails to hold above $80,000 and sets new lows, ETH’s price could also be impacted.