Hackers Suck at Trading: The Story of How This Fraudster Lost $7M Trading ETH

An on-chain analytics firm analyzes the losses from a fraudulent wallet.

The beauty of trading on-chain lies in the fact that every transaction is 100% public – that goes for both professional traders, beginners, and, believe it or not – even hackers.

This is the story of a supposed fraudster who lost millions in a bad trade.

Hackers Are Not Savvy Traders

Lookonchain, a popular blockchain analysis firm, noted the activity early this morning on its account on the social media platform X.

The wallet in question, which, according to the analysts is linked to illicit hacking activities, received 12,282 Ethereum (ETH) three months ago, valued at around $23.72 million at that time, and sold it at $1,932 per coin.

Earlier today, the same culprit purchased 4,958 ETH at $2,495, totaling $ 12.37 million.

This results in a de-facto loss of around $6.9 million, as noted by Lookonchain.

It’s Not Just Cybercriminals Out Of Luck

As CryptoPotato reported yesterday, it’s not just bad actors that wind up out of pocket.

We noted two separate instances in which two traders, cumulatively, lost multiple millions on very high-risk, overleveraged trades.

Both were testing their luck with 40x and even 50x leverage, only to see their positions shrink as the markets did not turn in their favor.

One tried one too many times to come on top, and the other one failed to realize a significant profit.

This just goes to show that testing fate can quickly lead to an enormous shortfall, regardless of the trader’s intention and the manner in which the funds used for the transactions were obtained.