BNB Whale "Wakes Up" After 2 Years
A dormant whale account has suddenly become active after a two-year hiatus, amid escalating regulatory crackdowns in the crypto industry.
BNB Whale "Wakes Up" After 2 Years
Data from Lookonchain on June 12 reveals that a whale wallet, which had been inactive for the past two years, recently sold 10,000 BNB at $230 each, netting $2.3 million. The wallet still holds 15,000 BNB, worth approximately $3.5 million.
Upon review, the whale had initially acquired 110,000 BNB for $47.5 million on SafeMoon. The whale subsequently sold most of the tokens and retained 25,000 BNB until now.
1/ A whale that has been dormant for 2 years sold 10,000 $BNB ($2.3M) at $230 today.
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) June 12, 2023
This whale was a #SAFEMOON whale before and made 110K $BNB ($47.5M at that time) with only 10 $BNB($2,400 at that time) on #SAFEMOON. pic.twitter.com/jxuBJBcWad
A similar event occurred last week when a wallet containing over 1,400 Bitcoin was reactivated after more than a decade of inactivity. The assets are estimated to be worth nearly $40 million at current prices.
This activity comes amid the ongoing legal battle between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and major crypto platforms Binance and Coinbase. As reported by Coin68, the SEC has filed lawsuits against these two prominent crypto exchanges, accusing them of violating federal securities laws. In recent days, BNB's price has been highly volatile, partly due to its classification as a security. Over the past week, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has dropped by 22% and is currently trading around $230.90.
4h Chart of BNB/USDT on Binance as of 08:30 AM on June 13, 2023
Moreover, BNB's price is further threatened by a significant $200 million loan that is nearing liquidation. The hacker responsible for last year's BNB Chain bridge attack had used a large amount of BNB as collateral on the Venus Protocol to borrow stablecoins. This loan will be liquidated if BNB drops to $219.32, potentially flooding the market with $200 million worth of BNB. In response, BNB Chain has decided to back the entire loan and will liquidate it in phases to stabilize the token’s price.
The legal battle has also led to a withdrawal of funds from crypto products, particularly Bitcoin and Ethereum reserves on U.S. exchanges. According to Nansen, over $2.5 billion has exited Binance in the past week, along with more than $112 million from Binance.US. Despite this, Binance remains determined to fight the SEC.
