According to Lookonchain, over the past weekend, a crypto whale withdrew over $20.6 billion worth of Ethereum (ETH) from the Bitfinex exchange within 16 hours.
The address is reportedly linked to Abraxas Capital Management, a UK-based investment firm specializing in cryptocurrency since 2017. As of February 2024, Abraxas Capital Management manages over $3 billion in digital assets across three funds. It is reported that the ETH withdrawn was transferred to the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Spark, where it was used as collateral for the stablecoin DAI.
As a result, the address borrowed 10.1 billion DAI from Spark. Subsequently, this DAI was converted into 10.1 billion USDC and deposited into Binance.
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Spark offers various DeFi services including SparkLend, focusing on the DAI money market protocol, and sDAI, a passive income stablecoin.
During the transaction period, Ethereum was priced at $3,442. Despite a nearly 3% increase in the past week, ETH has fallen by nearly 10% in the past month, still more than 25% below its all-time high of $4,878 set in April 2021.
This drastic movement in Ethereum tokens highlights the significant role of large investment management firms in the cryptocurrency sector. Conducting such transactions via DeFi platforms like Spark underscores the increasing integration of traditional financial strategies with decentralized financial solutions. This development reflects a broader trend of mature financial institutions increasingly accepting and utilizing DeFi and cryptocurrencies, marking potential further advancements in the digital asset ecosystem.
