Crypto detective ZachXBT recorded suspicious activity: 3520 BTC (~$333.5 million) were withdrawn and exchanged for Monero (XMR). This provoked a powerful jump in the asset's exchange rate.
What happened:
The funds were transferred to the wallet of the probable hacker on the night of April 28
BTC was distributed through six exchanges, after which it was converted to XMR
The huge volume of swaps caused the price to rise due to limited liquidity
Market reaction:
The price of XMR broke through $391 at the moment
The exchange rate growth for the week was +23%
There were spikes in trading volumes and volatility in XMR/BTC pairs
Monero's limited liquidity amplified the effect: the asset was previously traded from major exchanges, including Binance, which made such manipulations even more visible.