A hacker who previously stole approximately 103 million XRP from the cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has moved about 54 million of these funds across new addresses. This redistribution, occurring on Saturday by 12:41 UTC, is being monitored for potential future selling pressure on XRP, though the ultimate market impact remains uncertain.
The movement involved three of the five wallets that initially held the stolen XRP. According to on-chain data, two wallets that each held 20 million XRP were reduced to approximately 23 XRP and 55 XRP, respectively. A third wallet’s holdings were decreased to about 5.8 million XRP. Roughly 49 million XRP remained across the original five accounts at the time of reporting.
At the time of the report, XRP was trading around $1.47. The cryptocurrency saw a decrease of about 3% over the preceding 24 hours, but maintained a weekly gain of 3%. The market’s reaction suggests that the transfer is being viewed as a risk factor rather than a reported liquidation event, as the token has not experienced a significant price drop.
Bitget has stated that its protection fund covers the loss incurred from the breach, and customer balances remain unaffected. The exchange has also provided a schedule for the resumption of withdrawals for various cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin withdrawals are set to resume on September 28, followed by Ethereum on September 29, USDT on September 30, and other tokens on October 2.
The native status of XRP on the XRP Ledger presents a challenge. The XRP Ledger’s architecture means Ripple does not have a built-in mechanism to freeze native XRP held in wallets under an attacker’s control. This suggests that as long as the XRP remains in the hacker’s possession, it could potentially be spent, but this does not suggest a sale.
The implications of this on-chain activity are still unfolding. If the remaining XRP is moved to a known exchange address or swapped for another asset, the likelihood of imminent sell pressure would increase. However, the actual impact on XRP’s price will depend on the available buy-side liquidity at that moment. If the tokens remain parked across private wallets, the movement itself does not suggest a sale, and the potential price impact remains theoretical.
Key uncertainties persist regarding where the remaining approximately $75 million worth of XRP will ultimately land and whether the hacker will attempt to liquidate these funds. The market is closely watching for further developments, with the potential for future selling pressure being a primary concern, balanced against the current stability and the technical limitations of the XRP Ledger.
Why This Matters
The materials describe a narrow update: Following a breach where approximately 103 million XRP was stolen from Bitget, the hacker redistributed a portion of these funds (about 54 million XRP) across new addresses. Where the remaining approximately $75 million in XRP will ultimately land.
Broader Context
Source materials place the factual news in this context: The attacker behind Bitget’s $388 million news driver has moved about 54 million stolen XRP out of three of the five wallets that originally held the funds.
