$300M Coinbase hacker quietly goes long on Ethereum

A controversial wallet linked to one of the massive hacks in the crypto market is back in action. On-chain data shows that the hacker responsible for looting over $300 million from Coinbase users has gone long on Ethereum (ETH).

The wallet reportedly linked to the hacker scooped 649.62 ETH (approx. worth $2.31 million) at an average price of $3,561. This move follows a month-long laundering campaign and signals that the attacker is now taking a directional bet on Ethereum’s upside. Ether price has jumped by 26% over the last 7 days.

Ethereum hits $3,700 as whales flood in

Data shared by Lookonchain shows that the same Coinbase hacker wallet has added 4,863 Ethereum (approx. worth $12.55 million) on July 7 at the average price of 2,581. However, two months ago, the exploiter sold 26,762 ETH (approx. worth $69.25 million) when it was trading around $2,588.

This isn’t the only big money moving into ETH, as two newly created institutional-grade wallets purchased a combined 58,268 ETH, worth an estimated $212 million. The accumulation was done via FalconX and Galaxy Digital. 

The hacker who stole $300M+ from #Coinbase users bought another 649.62 $ETH($2.31M) at $3,561 9 hours ago.https://t.co/u0exg3Oaaohttps://t.co/2bLvhTVVhu pic.twitter.com/wyjCXPbQMe

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 20, 2025

On the other side, a known whale wallet (0xd5ff) closed a long ETH position a few hours ago while locking in a $1.7 million profit. Over the past four days, the same address executed six ETH long trades, all of which remained profitable for him. It holds a total profit haul nearing $3 million.

The largest altcoin is riding the bullish wave very well and has posted gains of more than 125% in the last 90 days. Ethereum is trading at an average price of $3,705 at press time. Its 24-hour trading volume hovers around $30 billion.

The institutional appetite for Ethereum is still accelerating. Ether-linked US ETFs recorded $402.5 million inflow on Friday and outpaced Bitcoin’s $363.45 million. BlackRock’s ETHA fund alone accounted for $394.91 million of that total. Fidelity’s FETH and Grayscale’s ETHE recorded modest outflows. Ether ETF trading volumes hit $2.8 billion, while total assets under management for Ether products surged to a record $18.37 billion.

Inside Coinbase’s $300M ETH heist

The Coinbase hack itself remains one of the most controversial incidents in 2025. As first reported by on-chain investigator ZachXBT, the attacker initially swapped $42.5 million worth of stolen Bitcoin for Ethereum via Thorchain. They later converted nearly 18,000 ETH into over $45 million in DAI stablecoins, further obfuscating the trail.

The breach reportedly stemmed from a social engineering scheme. Hackers bribed external contractors and support employees located outside the United States to gain access to sensitive user data, impacting 97,000 Coinbase accounts. 

Login credentials weren’t compromised, but names, addresses, and emails were exposed. Coinbase has pledged to reimburse affected users and estimate damages. However, the company reportedly refused to meet the attacker’s $20 million ransom demand.