Monero (XMR) price recently experienced a substantial price surge, following a liquidity pump. That pump occurred due to the swapping of Bitcoin (BTC) worth about $330M, which were potentially acquired fraudulently.
Monero Wallet BTC Laundering and Its Impact on XMR Price
A recent 3,520 BTC suspicious transaction, worth about $330.7 million, was tracked and raised alarm in the crypto community. These potentially stolen BTC were traced back to the stealing address “bc1…7vz55g.”
Shortly after stealing, the hacker laundered the stolen BTC tokens quickly by passing it through more than six instant exchanges to mask the transaction trace.
As per the in-depth blockchain analysis, the laundered BTC coins were duly swapped for Monero. The XMR crypto is well-known or its anonymous character thus a hackers’ option when doing their malicious mixing for the actual owners to lose track of their coins.
BTC to XMR swap activity | Source: X
The anonymity feature of Monero provided the perfect vehicle for the hacker, where these stolen crypto tokens could be hidden further.
The laundering process was operated by breaking up Bitcoin into smaller pieces on several exchanges. It was an attempt to reduce the chances of being detected by centralized institutions and blockchain observers.
This massive and acute shifting into XMR resulted in a sudden liquidity shock in Monero markets. That caused the XMR price to spike drastically in an extremely short period.
This massive spike put much attention on XMR markets, exemplifying how massive illicit activities could directly impact the altcoin’s price movements. Analysts noted that the unexpected buying pressure driven by the BTC-to-XMR exchanges could be the main force behind the Monero price surge.
As investigations continue, the incident points to the weaknesses in crypto infrastructure. It also emphasizes the absolute need to monitor cross-asset laundering activity.
Monero Price Prediction
Diving into the Monero price prediction, the altcoin was in the middle of a long-term channel of ascent on the monthly time frame chart. The price bounced from the $160 support and advanced towards around $280. It traded at $262.64 as of press time.
The rising channel since 2016 showed a broader bullish setup, with the major resistances and supports nicely held for a long time. The lower trendline supported a long-term bullish trend for the altcoin.
The RSI also supported continuation of the upward movement with the value reading just below the 70 mark. It suggested strong bullish momentum, but still below the overbought point.
If XMR maintains momentum and breaks above $280.00, the next price target would be near $400.00. It is in the middle of the resistance of the channel. Another breakout would push XMR to the upper limit of the channel, near $560 or higher.
Monero monthly price chart | Source: Trading View
What XMR Price Needs To Bounce
Conversely, a failure to stay above the breakout level at $222 may trigger a pullback to the lower trendline of around $160.
This analysis meant that a break below the $120 ascending trendline zone would mean more downside for XMR price, potentially below $100.
Growing buying interest and the volume had a bullish inclination, but any sharp decline in volume may reverse the trend.
Overall, XMR continued to bounce over $222.52, placing it in a healthy area. However, a definitive monthly close over $280.00 would be essential to indicate a larger-scale bullish continuation.
Traders must watch $280.00 and $222.00 levels for the next significant action within the uptrending channel.
