Shiba Whale Loses Millions

February 26, 2024

Reading time: 5 minutes

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MicroStrategy’s X account hacked, users feel the brunt

Key points:

  • MicroStrategy’s official X account fell under the control of hackers.

  • They shared malicious links for a fake Ethereum-based MSTR token airdrop.

News - MicroStrategy’s X (formerly Twitter) account was recently hacked. A link posted by the compromised X account led users to a replica MicroStrategy webpage, prompting them to connect a wallet and claim the fake “MSTR airdrop.” After users granted permissions in their Web3 wallet, attackers could drain the tokens from the user's wallet. Independent blockchain investigator ZachXBT and anti-scam platform Scam Sniffer reported large losses that occurred due to the scam.

Looking at the details - Scam Sniffer reported that a user lost over $420,000 in a phishing scam shortly after the initial malicious link was posted on MicroStrategy's X account. The victim lost $424,786 in altcoins, with one transfer going to the MicroStrategy attacker and two redirected to a second wallet linked to the hacking group called PinkDrainer. The affected user approved a transaction involving $134,000 in Wrapped Balance AI (wBAI), $122,000 in Chintai (CHEX), and $45,000 in Wrapped Pocket Network (wPOKT), which were sent to the attacker's wallet. At the time of reporting, MicroStrategy attacker's wallet held $329,000 in Ethereum-based tokens, according to Ethereum DeBank.

Grayscale outflows decline as BTC’s price remains stagnant

Key points:

  • On February 23, Grayscale's GBTC registered a withdrawal of $44.2 million.

  • This was its lowest daily volume since transitioning to an ETF.

News - The outflows from GBTC have added to the uncertainty around BTC.The increasing outflows resulted from the approval of the spot Bitcoin ETF by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on January 10. This allowed GBTC holders to directly convert and redeem their shares, eliminating the need for them to sell shares on the secondary market to exit positions.

Impact on Grayscale- Analysts suggest that investors have adjusted their portfolios, shifting towards Bitcoin ETFs with lower fees in recent weeks. GBTC imposes a 1.5% annual management fee, whereas other issuers charge as little as 0.19%. Additionally, Grayscale's Bitcoin fund faces another hurdle. The bankrupt crypto firm Genesis Global Holdco has been authorized by the court to sell $1.3 billion in GBTC shares to compensate investors.

Should BTC ETF investors panic? Probably not since this was not emblematic of the overall state of Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock's IBIT has attracted over $6.6 billion in investments since its launch, followed by Fidelity's FBTC with over $4.7 billion, and ARK 21Shares with $1.4 billion in inflows. The popularity of these ETF’s showcased a general positive sentiment towards BTC ETFs in the market.

How is Bitcoin doing? At press time, BTC was trading at $51,354.07 and its price had declined by 0.72% in the last 24 hours. BTC’s trading volume also fell by 10.74% over the same period.

Avalanche’s network outage affects AVAX

Key points:

  • Avalanche experienced a network outage, attributing the issue to a bug in the code.

  • Network outage resulted in a spike in negative sentiment around AVAX.

News - Avalanche’s primary network ceased block production for nearly five and a half hours on February 23, disrupting transaction flow. Developers acknowledged the transaction halt at around 11:30 am UTC, initially attributing it to a "new wave of inscriptions."

However, Kevin Sekniqi, co-founder of Ava Labs, later clarified that the issue resulted from a code-related bug introduced in the v1.10.18 release in January. This bug caused validators to flood each other with unnecessary transaction gossip, rendering nodes unresponsive.

At 3:59 pm UTC, Avalanche instructed validators to upgrade to v1.11.1 to address the bug. The incident was confirmed fully resolved at 5:43 pm UTC after monitoring.

How was AVAX affected - Following the development, AVAX reported a slight dip, losing 1.12% of its gains in a 24-hour period. This decline occurred amid a more extended downtrend lasting over a week, with the asset seeing a decline of over 10% in the last seven days.

It is probable that the recent unlocking of 9.5 million AVAX exerted downward pressure on the token. During unlocks, an excess supply enters the market, and if not matched with corresponding demand, it can lead to significant price falls.

A spike in negative sentiment - The network outage garnered negative attention for AVAX, evident in the increased mentions of the coin on popular social groups, according to Santiment data analyzed by AMBCrypto. A decline in sentiment could further add to the downward pressure.

A Shiba Inu whale incurred losses of $6 million

Key points: 

  • A SHIB whale liquidated more than 400 million SHIB tokens.

  • Proportion of profitable SHIB supply has risen to more than 70%.

News - A prominent Shiba Inu whale has been reducing its SHIB holdings by selling billions of tokens. According to Spot on Chain data, the whale recently unloaded 421.6 billion SHIB tokens on both centralized and decentralized exchanges.

Looking at the transactions - The whale sent 311.6 billion SHIB tokens, valued at $2.97 million, to Binance (BNB), and another 110 billion SHIB for 1.01 million Tether (USDT) on a decentralized exchange. Further analysis revealed that the whale held these tokens for over two years and incurred a loss of $6.32 million, representing a significant 61.4% loss from the sale.

Impact on SHIB - AMBCrypto's analysis of Shiba Inu's exchange flow on Santiment indicated a notable surge in inflows compared to outflows on February 24th. The whale's transaction had a significant impact on the exchange inflows, with data revealing that by the end of February 24th, more than 426 billion SHIB had entered all exchanges.

Holders in the red - Examining the profitability of Shiba Inu's supply on Santiment revealed that at the time of writing, more than half of SHIB tokens were not in a profitable state. Specifically, nearly 76% of the total SHIB supply was not in a profitable position.

Did you know?

  • Pharmaceutical companies are exploring blockchain's potential to track and verify the authenticity of medication throughout the supply chain.

  • With the rise of cryptocurrencies, several central banks worldwide are researching and developing their own digital versions of national currencies.

  • EOS, a blockchain-based service, raised a whopping $ 4.1B over the course of a year-long ICO that closed in June 2018.

Top 3 coins of the day

Uniswap (UNI)

Key points:

  • UNI’s price surged by 41% over the last few days.

  • The hike was driven by Uniswap's proposal to upgrade the protocol’s governance system.

What you should know - The recently proposed initiative aims to improve Uniswap's governance system by rewarding those who have staked and delegated UNI tokens. The announcement had a positive impact on sentiment, leading to a substantial increase in the token's price. The price surge occurred post-February 18th, with UNI testing the $12.846 level. However, at the time of writing, the token was trading at $10.907 after the initial excitement around the proposal subsided. If the bullish momentum diminishes, there's a possibility of the price reverting to previous levels, consolidating between $8.279 and $7.069 before a significant move. The RSI at 59.15 suggests that considerable bullish momentum is still behind UNI.

Worldcoin (WLD)

Key points:

  • Price of WLD surged by 36% over the last week, with no signs of slowing down.

  • Positive sentiment around OpenAI’s Sora continued to play a role in the price surge.

What you should know - Following the introduction of Sora, OpenAI's video development tool, there has been a notable surge in the price of WLD, a token launched by Sam Altman. Initial expectations suggested that WLD’s price would decline after the excitement surrounding OpenAI waned. Contrary to predictions, recent data revealed that the price of WLD not only persisted, but also surpassed the $9.01 resistance after several tests. While most WLD holders were in a profitable position, there wasn’t significant profit-taking at the time of writing. However, if these holders decide to liquidate in the future, WLD could potentially retreat to its $4.77 support levels. Additionally, the Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) of WLD fell as its price rose, indicating a potential lack of strong support from volume or buying interest. This decline in CMF might signify a loss of momentum, serving as a cautionary signal for a possible reversal.

Ethereum (ETH)

Key points:

  • Price of ETH surpassed the $3,000-level.

  • Total number of ETH holders grew significantly.

What you should know - Ethereum sparked optimism among traders as it broke past $3,000, recording a 6.13% hike over the past week. Throughout this timeframe, ETH demonstrated multiple higher highs and higher lows, indicative of a bullish trend. Additionally, the On-Balance Volume (OBV) for ETH also saw growth during this period. A heightened On-Balance Volume (OBV) in ETH's context suggests greater buying pressure, supporting the bullish trend. The bullish momentum can be attributed to factors such as the possible approval of an Ethereum ETF and the forthcoming Dencun upgrade on the network. However, it's worth noting that significant events like these can sometimes result in "buy the rumor, sell the news" scenarios, potentially leading to heightened volatility in ETH's price.

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