Hacker Sinks $6.9M in Crypto Trading Blunder
A suspected hacker lost ~$6.9M swapping ETH—lessons in on-chain trading.
- Hackers received 12,282 ETH via THORChain/Chainflip three months ago.
- Sold at $1,932 then repurchased at $2,495—locking in a $6.9M loss.
- Shows on-chain data can reveal costly mistakes, even for hackers.
Wallet address 0x17E0e39da162e17aFC566f835Fe41a5DF56E4EA5—suspected to belong to a hacker—made a costly trading decision. About three months ago, this wallet received 12,282 ETH, worth around $23.7 million at the time, from protocols THORChain and Chainflip. The entire amount was sold at a price of approximately $1,932 per ETH.
Betting Against the Usual Hacker Playbook
Fast forward to just 30 minutes ago on July 1, 2025—the same wallet made a surprising move. It bought back 4,958 ETH for around $12.37 million, this time at a significantly higher price of $2,495 per ETH.
This kind of move is quite unusual. Hackers typically avoid re-entering the market, especially at a worse price. But in this case, the wallet chose to jump back in, possibly expecting ETH to climb even higher.
Math Doesn’t Lie: $6.9M Red Ink
Let’s simplify the numbers:
| Transaction | ETH Amount | Price per ETH | USD Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sold | 12,282 | $1,932 | $23.7M |
| Bought | 4,958 | $2,495 | $12.37M |
This means the hacker bought back less than half the ETH sold—at a higher price—leading to a paper loss of approximately $6.9 million. Whether this was a panic move or a miscalculated strategy remains unknown.
Lessons from a Hacker’s Loss
- On-chain activity reveals everything: No wallet is invisible, not even one tied to hacks.
- Even hackers make bad trades: Selling low and buying high is a mistake many fall into.
- Trading without a strategy is risky: Big money doesn’t guarantee smart decisions.
Read also:
- Cosmos Holds $4, XRP Stable at $2.20 While Qubetics Emerges as the Best Crypto to Buy for July 2025
- Coinbase Expands with Liquifi Token Management Acquisition
- BlackRock’s Bitcoin Trust Adds $3.85B in June
- Standard Chartered Sees Bitcoin at $200K by Year-End
- DWS, Galaxy & Flow Traders Launch Euro Stablecoin
