Coinbase Hacker Takes $932K Bath: Dumps 3,976 ETH in Panic Move
Another day, another crypto fire sale—only this time, it’s not exactly voluntary.
Massive ETH Dump Shakes Market Confidence
Someone just offloaded nearly 4,000 Ethereum in what looks like a classic panic-triggered exit. The move cost the seller a cool $932,000—call it an expensive lesson in poor timing, weak hands, or just really bad opsec.
Timing Is Everything—Especially When It’s Terrible
Selling at a loss isn’t new in crypto, but doing it under pressure? That’s a special kind of pain. The market barely flinched—turns out even a multimillion-dollar dump is just Tuesday in DeFi.
Just another reminder: in crypto, you either HODL like a pro or become an involuntary philanthropist. Wall Street bankers are probably nodding—with smug satisfaction—somewhere.
Hacker exchanges Ethereum for DAI
Arkham Intelligence shows that the Coinbase hacker sold all the ETH for DAI. The main reason such a crypto criminal would want to swap the funds into a stablecoin is to avoid the price volatility of the crypto market and make easier payments. DAI, in these cases, becomes particularly useful for criminals, just like any other stablecoin.
The hacker who stole $300M+ from #Coinbase users just panic-sold 3,976 $ETH($17.98M) at $4,522, losing $932K in 2 days.https://t.co/wBiAHo37jt pic.twitter.com/tIEo1Zrkyx
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) September 15, 2025
However, due to its decentralized nature, DAI does not have a central authority that can freeze assets or blacklist addresses. Once DAI is in circulation, it is controlled entirely by the holders of the tokens, and no central entity can intervene in transactions.
Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), TrueUSD (TUSD), and Pax Dollar (PAX) are on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. For instance, USDT is issued by Tether Limited, a centralized company that controls the issuance and redemption of the token. This centralization introduces points of failure and regulatory scrutiny.
As a centralized entity, Tether Limited is subject to regulatory oversight and must comply with various legal and financial regulations. Tether Limited can freeze USDT tokens on certain addresses and/or blacklist the address. This makes DAI the better option for scammers.
Whales’ big ETH withdrawals
At the same time, the crypto market has seen heightened activity. On-chain data shows that ethereum “whales” have been moving ETH worth more than $20 million from platforms like Binance, FalconX, Kraken, and Bitget.
Whales keep accumulating $ETH.
Another newly created wallet "0x9D99" withdrew 5,297 $ETH($24.7M) from #Binance and #Bitget.
Whale 0x7451 received another 13,322 $ETH($61.65M) from #FalconX an hour ago.https://t.co/d79rEsIGOI pic.twitter.com/mmxcZimSEY
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) September 15, 2025
Today, Lookonchain has reported several big withdrawals. A new wallet called 0x4d43 took out 4,208 ETH, worth about $19.5 million, from Binance in just 40 minutes. 5,297 ETH worth $24.7 million were taken from Binance and Bitget by a new wallet – 0x9D99. A different whale account, 0x7451, moved about $61.6 million worth of Ethereum from FalconX.
Kraken had the biggest move, with wallet 0x9d2E taking out about $102 million worth of ETH. The Ethereum whale accumulation adds up to over $208 million.
A wave of liquidations in the futures market caused the drop in prices. Over the last 24 hours, over $108 million worth of ETH has been sold on CoinGlass. About 86% in long positions have been wiped out.
Another driving factor is the regulatory uncertainty that is affecting the market sentiment.BlackRock took longer than expected to decide if it can add staking to its Ethereum ETF. The decision has been pushed back to October 30 by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The due dates for similar plans from 21Shares and Grayscale have also been pushed.
At the time of writing, ETH is trading at $4,522, which represents a 1.57% drop in the last 24 hours. The token had soared up to over $4,700 earlier in the session before it retreated.
The overall market data for Ethereum ETFs paints a clear picture of growth. By September 12, the total net inflows reached $13.36 billion. Meanwhile, total net assets stood at $30.35 billion. Trading activity was also strong. About $2.55 billion in value was exchanged in a single day last week.
The performance also shows that Ethereum ETFs are building solid ground alongside Bitcoin ETFs. This creates more opportunities for institutions and retail investors to gain exposure to crypto through regulated channels, and also promises investors that the price of Ethereum will keep going up.
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