Plus Token’s $1.3B ETH could be sold, ‘Crypto King’ arrested: Asia Express

Plus Token-linked Ether found and on the move

Around $16 million in Ether from the Plus Token scam started moving to exchanges this week, suggesting intent to sell, according to on-chain analyst ErgoBTC. 

The Plus Token Ponzi scheme, which defrauded investors between 2018 and 2019, led to the reported seizure of $4.2 billion in crypto by Chinese authorities, including 833,083 ETH.

ErgoBTC’s latest analyst states that around a third of the seized Ether was sold at now-defunct crypto exchange Bidesk in 2021. The remainder, approximately 542,000 Ether in thousands of wallets, started moving in August and was consolidated into 294 addresses.

This week saw the movement of 15,700 Ether, of which around 7,000($16 million) entered exchanges.

“Given the recent effort to re-obfuscate the ETH it is unlikely that the active distribution of the 15.7k ETH moved yesterday is the last of the 540k ETH supply distribution,” ErgoBTC said on X.

The Plus Token fund movements caused quite the division this past August, as no one could agree on how much of the ponzi scheme’s ETH was still available to be sold.

Blockchain tracker Lookonchain initially claimed on X that 789,533 dormant Ether from the Plus Token scheme had started moving. 

Lookonchain deleted the post after onchain analyst EmberCN reported that 268,843 ETH had been sold at Bidesk in 2021. EmberCN claimed to have tracked 25,757 of the remaining Ether to 12 addresses, adding that most of the Ether was sold in 2021.

Data platform Arkham Intelligence offered its own analysis, estimating that 196,000 dormant Ether related to PlusToken began moving within a 12-hour period.

ErgoBTC’s analysis agrees with EmberCN’s statement about the near-269,000 Ether at Bidesk, but finds Ether from the scam in more than the 12 wallets.

Similar to Arkham’s preliminary report, ErgoBTC found that dormant Ether — estimated at the remaining 540,000 — began moving in August.

The movement of $16 million in Ether isn’t a significant supply shock for the cryptocurrency, but the possible movement of 540,000 Ether, worth around $1.3 billion, presents a much larger sell pressure.

The rise, fall, and another fall of the $10.5M ‘Crypto King’

Filipino police arrested a 23-year-old self-proclaimed “Crypto King” on Oct. 7, accused of defrauding investors out of approximately 600 million Philippine pesos ($10.5 million).

The suspect, identified as “Joshua” at a police press conference, allegedly targeted high-profile victims, including media figures, police, and government employees, according to the government outlet Philippine News Agency.

He reportedly maintained a database of potential victims, indicating that his targets were premeditated rather than random.

The so-called crypto king was previously arrested in September 2023 under the name Vance Joshua Tamayo. 

Tamayo portrayed himself as a crypto genius, promising investors 4.5% monthly returns through a scheme presented as a legitimate business. Initially, he fulfilled these promises, but later cut off communications with investors.

In the first case, he was accused of scamming victims out of 100 million pesos ($1.7 million) but was released on bail for 54,000 pesos (less than $950).

His scam volume has since increased after authorities received additional complaints from alleged victims.

Police said they plan to file a “large-scale estafa” case, or a large-scale fraud case, against Tamayo, which would eliminate the bail option for him.

Upbit’s ‘Squid Game’ monopoly sparks bank-run scare

Upbit’s dominance in South Korea’s crypto market has sparked concerns over a potential bank run at K-Bank, one of the nation’s largest online banks and the cryptocurrency exchange’s banking partner. 

Under South Korean regulations, crypto exchanges must partner with local banks to facilitate fiat on-and-off ramps. Customers of these exchanges must hold an account with the partner bank to ensure that their crypto activities are linked to their legal identity.

Only five exchanges in South Korea meet these requirements and the Upbit-K-Bank partnership dominates 70% of the local market.

During the National Assembly’s audit of state affairs on Oct. 10, lawmaker Lee Kang-il noted that K-Bank holds around 4 trillion won (roughly $3 billion) in Upbit customer deposits, accounting for about a fifth of the bank’s total funds.

Lee said that if Upbit’s services were disrupted, it could trigger a bank run at K-Bank.

Lee directed the blame to the Financial Services Commission for creating such risks by having favorites.

“The FSC is playing Squid Game, saving only one company while killing off all others,” Lee said.

FSC Chairman Kim Byung-hwan acknowledged Lee’s concern and mentioned ongoing efforts to enhance regulations for Anti-Money Laundering and investor protection. He also stated that the FSC will investigate the issues of market monopolies and structural risks posed by such concentration.

A bank run involving K-Bank could have global repercussions, as South Korea’s won is a major fiat currency traded against crypto and led global trading volumes in the first quarter of 2024.

K-Bank aims for a $730 billion IPO, with an expected valuation of $4 billion by the end of October.

Lawmaker Lee expressed suspicion about the FSC’s approval of K-Bank’s IPO application, to which Kim responded, “I think the FSC might have conducted a sufficient review.”

Hong Kong to hand out more licenses

Asian financial hub Hong Kong is expected to see a surge in licensed crypto exchanges by year-end, according to Julia Leung, CEO of the city’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).

In an interview with local media, Leung mentioned that her agency has begun on-site inspections of crypto license applicants. Approvals are expected to be issued in batches by the end of the year.

To date, only three exchanges have been approved to conduct licensed crypto operations in Hong Kong.

On Oct. 4, Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange Limited joined the ranks of HashKey and OSL as licensed exchanges.

Meanwhile, 14 exchanges have withdrawn their applications, and one was returned by the SFC.

The latest to withdraw was Hong Kong Digital Asset Xchange (HKDAX) on Oct. 9.

HKDAX recently made headlines after submitting its crypto license application three months past the deadline.

Subscribe

The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a
week.

Yohan Yun

Yohan Yun is a multimedia journalist covering blockchain since 2017. He has contributed to crypto media outlet Forkast as an editor and has covered Asian tech stories as an assistant reporter for Bloomberg BNA and Forbes. He spends his free time cooking, and experimenting with new recipes.