Ether Surges Amidst Bybit's $101M OTC Purchase

Ether (ETH), the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, has experienced a significant price surge, rising by over 2.3% in the last 24 hours. This increase contrasts with the broader CoinDesk 20 Index, which has risen by just 0.76% during the same period, and Bitcoin, which is down around 0.3%.

The price spike comes amidst reports that Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange that suffered a $1.5 billion hack involving ether and staked ether by the North Korean hacking group Lazarus, has been actively purchasing ETH. According to crypto journalist Colin Wu, Bybit moved 100 million USDT into new addresses and subsequently transferred half of that amount into addresses to purchase 36,900 ETH over-the-counter. The funds, worth around $101 million, were then moved to addresses tagged as belonging to the cryptocurrency exchange.

Bybit's CEO, Ben Zhou, reportedly stated in an "ask me anything" session that the company's assets are "far greater than $1.5 billion," adding that "there is a cold wallet in safe with nearly 3 billion US dollars in USDT."

The hacker is now estimated to be holding around 489,000 ETH, valued at approximately $1.34 billion, which represents approximately 0.4% of ether's total supply, making it the 14th-largest holder of the cryptocurrency. The addresses associated with the hacker are closely monitored and blacklisted by major cryptocurrency exchanges, making it extremely difficult for the hacker to use the stolen funds. Any attempt to transfer these funds to a major exchange would result in an immediate block, according to StealthEX CEO Maria Carola.

Given the hacker's inability to use the stolen funds, some analysts suggest that the 0.4% of the ETH supply it holds is "essentially gone," further driving the price increase of ether.