Crypto Hackers Capitalize on ETH Surge, Offloading $72M This Week
Three high-profile exploiters have taken advantage of ether’s rally to liquidate stolen funds, pocketing tens of millions in extra profits.
Updated Aug 15, 2025, 2:39 p.m. Published Aug 15, 2025, 2:13 p.m.
Ether’s (ETH) recent rally to $4,780 has delivered a wealth of profits to several high-profile hackers, who have capitalized on the surge by offloading their ill-gotten gains.
In three separate case, on-chain data, revealed by X account EmberCN, shows hackers strategically liquidated their ETH holdings for tens of millions in profit.
The Radiant Capital exploiter, who the protocol alleges is a North Korean entity, drained around $53 million in assets from the DeFi protocol last October. They converted much of their haul into 21,957 ETH at roughly $2,414 per coin, only to sell 9,631 ETH for $44 million worth of stablecoins this week.
They still control 12,326 ETH alongside the stablecoin proceeds, for a combined $101 million, around $48.3 million more than the value of the original stolen assets.
A similar playbook emerged from the Infini exploit in February. That attacker siphoned $49.5 million in USDC and bought 17,696 ETH at $2,798 each.
While laundering 5,000 ETH through Tornado Cash, they also sold 3,540 ETH for $13 million worth of stablecoins at an average $3,762. The ETH rally has swelled the value of their remaining stash, netting an extra $25.15 million on top of the initial theft.
The third case was an unidentified exploiter who stole 17,412 ETH from THORChain and Chainflip in March sold those holdings for $33.9 million DAI at $1,947.
In June, they re-entered the market, buying 4,957 ETH at $2,495 before selling them early Friday for $22.13 million worth of stablecoins at $4,464, profiting $9.76 million in the process.
The three hacks all played part in a rampant 18 months for hackers, with investors losing $3.1 billion in in the first half of 2025 and $1.49 billion in 2024.
Oliver Knight
Oliver Knight is the co-leader of CoinDesk data tokens and data team. Before joining CoinDesk in 2022 Oliver spent three years as the chief reporter at Coin Rivet. He first started investing in bitcoin in 2013 and spent a period of his career working at a market making firm in the UK. He does not currently have any crypto holdings.
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