It is a new week, but the attention remains on what it was on at the end of the previous one – the second largest offshore crypto exchange in the world, ByBit. If you are not familiar with it – which seems nearly impossible judging by the scale of the news – the exchange was “hacked” for a sum in assets equivalent to about $1.5 billion.
It remains an open question how this was possible, but for now it can be concluded that this was the biggest hack ever in the digital asset industry.
However, the point of this article is the recent transfer of almost 52 million XRP, which is equivalent to about $128.78 million, on an exchange. Thus, as became known thanks to a report from Whale Alert, the colossal sum in XRP hit ByBit from the wallet with the address “rGdKQ.”
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 51,999,999 #XRP (128,782,393 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to #Bybithttps://t.co/4C8SlWy76u
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) February 24, 2025
According to XRPL Explorer, this address was activated in September by Binance, the world’s largest centralized crypto platform. What is interesting is that this wallet is almost empty after the transfer, but before it saw an outflow of 52 million XRP to a recently hacked exchange, it was topped up by the transfer from ByBit.
What’s happening?
What we are probably seeing is some sort of interaction between two major exchanges. Both entities have their own history, and the black and yellow crypto behemoth was one of the first in the space to help ByBit after the hack.
If these are indeed exchanges, then assumptions of a possible sell-off may not come true. The thing is that the common perception of market participants is that transfers on exchanges are bearish and are seen as large investors’ intention to sell.
This time, 52 million XRP may not be headed to ByBit to sell. But it should be understood that all such moves in the post-hack period will be viewed with increased scrutiny by market participants, whose doubts and concerns are at a maximum right now.
