Binance Hacker Dumps Nearly 500 Billion Shiba Inu Tokens Yet the Meme Coin Stages a Swift Recovery
The SHIB swap was worth a fraction of the $279 million in altcoin conversions tracked across wallets attributed to the attacker
Field Notes
- Wallets linked to the Binance hacker dump nearly 500 billion Shiba Inu tokens for 873 ETH valued at $1.96 million
- The swap forms part of a $279 million conversion across 130 altcoins, generating 123,400 ETH and 1.69 million USDC
- SHIB recovers 5.4% from its October 30 intraday low, demonstrating deep liquidity despite automated liquidation cascades by TraderTraitor
Nearly half a trillion Shiba Inu tokens changed hands in a transaction linked to the Binance hacker. Wallets attributed to the attacker swapped 499,926,072,560 SHIB for 873 ETH, worth approximately $1.96 million, according to blockchain analytics account Lookonchain.
SHIB started with a supply of one quadrillion tokens. That helps explain how nearly 500 billion of them could change hands for less than $2 million.
The exchange was one piece of a much larger trail. Lookonchain tracked conversions involving more than 130 altcoins across Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible networks, yielding approximately 123,400 ETH and 1.69 million USDC. The combined value was about $279 million.
Related: Inside the Binance Hack: What the Blockchain Reveals About Its Signing Systems and Reserves
SHIB accounted for less than $2 million of that total. The exchanged tokens represented roughly 0.05% of SHIB's original supply, not its circulating supply.
And while those tokens were changing hands, SHIB was climbing back from an October 30 decline.
Nearly 500 Billion SHIB, Worth $1.96 Million
SHIB fell to an intraday low of $0.00000446 on October 30. By November 1, it had recovered to around $0.00000470, roughly 5.4% above the bottom. It remained below its October 30 close near $0.00000479.
The timing naturally raises questions about the sell-off. But the route matters. A swap can pass through liquidity pools or other trading venues. The available buyers and the size of each trade help determine how much pressure reaches the market. The transaction's contribution to SHIB's October 30 drop remains unclear.
SHIB Bounces as Binance Tracks the Stolen Funds
The swap unfolded amid broader market pressure following the Binance incident. SHIB was trading through that same market, with other orders and changing conditions influencing its price.
Related: What Happened to LEASH? Inside the Shiba Inu Token’s Supply Controversy and V2 Migration
The FBI attributed the October 29 Binance theft to North Korea's TraderTraitor operation on October 31. The agency said it had observed the attackers converting stolen assets primarily into ETH, with further laundering expected.
Binance said it would cover the financial impact through its Secure Asset Fund for Users and corporate funds. It reported replenishing approximately 90% of affected customer balances by October 31. Separately, Binance and its partners had frozen roughly $3 billion in assets associated with the theft.
Binance was replacing customer balances while assets linked to the theft were being frozen. Those are separate developments. Neither means the stolen cryptocurrency itself had been recovered.
The wallet trail doesn't end with this swap. ShibArmy's investigation follows the subsequent transfers, tracing where the stolen assets moved after the conversions. Follow the trail at ShibArmy.io.