The cryptocurrency market has been rocked by a seismic sell-off over the past 24 hours, with the two largest digital assets, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), plummeting over 20% in value. At the epicenter of the chaos is one of the industry’s biggest names – Justin Sun, the founder of the TRON blockchain. On-chain data suggests that Sun may have used the pullback to scoop up millions of dollars worth of Ethereum at discounted prices.
Market Meltdown Wipes Out $600 Billion
According to a Fortune report, this market upheaval unfolded against a backdrop of widespread stock market sell-offs triggered by a disappointing jobs report and perceived inaction by the Federal Reserve (Fed).
Despite recent positive developments in the crypto sector, such as the launch of Ethereum ETFsin the US in July, digital assets mirrored the stock market downturn. The total crypto market cap tumbled from over $2.5 trillion on July 28 to approximately $1.9 trillion on Monday, marking the most substantial loss since 2022.
Crypto market maker Wintermute, described the crypto plunge to Fortune as “unexpected,” and attributed it to the US jobs report. The firm noted liquidations surpassing $1 billion in digital asset positions overnight, along with a $57 billion decline in altcoin market capitalization.
Noteworthy was a selloff from Jump Trading, a Chicago-based trading firm that had played a significant role in the crypto industry before scaling back amid collapses and regulatory scrutiny.
On-chain data by Spot On Chain indicate Jump moving $47 million worth of Ethereum to centralized exchanges (CEXs), though Wintermute cautioned against oversimplifying market movements by attributing them solely to Jump’s actions.
Sun’s Ethereum Shopping Spree
Amid this market turmoil, attention turned to Justin Sun, the founder of the TRON blockchain. Reports surfaced of a suspicious address linked to Sun buying 16,236 ETH with 37 million USDT stablecoin, as ETH plummeted to $2,112 on Monday, with an average purchase price of $2,279.
The address, created three hours prior, allegedly withdrew 38 million USDT from the HTX exchange before acquiring the ETH tokens. It is further alleged that this address belongs to Sun due to its behavior mirroring previous ETH purchases by him.
Notably, Sun reportedly holds over 700,000 ETH, with recent data showing a substantial loss of around $280 million as Ethereum’s value dropped by 20%. Since February 8, 2024, Sun allegedly accumulated 377,590 ETH across three wallets, costing an estimated $1.15 billion.
Despite Ethereum trading well below his average buying price of $3,051, Sun has denied rumors of liquidation. In a social media post, Sun stated:
The rumors about our positions being liquidated are false. We rarely engage in leveraged trading strategies because we believe such trades do not significantly benefit the industry. Instead, we prefer to engage in activities that provide greater support to the industry and entrepreneurs, such as staking, running nodes, working on projects, and helping project teams provide liquidity.
At the time of writing, ETH has managed to bounce back to the $2,460 level, with a 346% increase in trading volume over the past 24 hours, amounting to $76 billion, according to CoinGecko data.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com