PlusToken Ponzi scheme still has more than 60,000 Bitcoins that have not been successfully transferred

According to a report by digital asset investigation company OXT Research, PlusToken, known as the largest Ponzi scheme scam in the cryptocurrency circle, may still have 61,229 bitcoins (worth approximately US$369 million) that have not been successfully sold and transferred, which may affect the crypto market at some point in the future.

The PlusToken Ponzi scheme, which siphoned off nearly $3 billion worth of Bitcoin and other digital currencies, has been on the radar of media and blockchain research firms lately, especially when it comes to when they are ready to make a move. After nearly a month of detailed analysis, OXT Research has conducted an in-depth study of what they describe as "the first billion-dollar Ponzi scheme in the history of cryptocurrency."

The latest analysis has the following conclusions:

PlusToken-related funds often have a path characteristic of being remixed from a mixing service and then distributed to multiple other markets for sale. The Bitcoin and other digital currencies that were distributed were likely sold shortly after being transferred to exchanges.

Several other digital currency or mixer deposits from other projects were also discovered, bringing PlusToken’s total reserves after the founder was taken control to approximately 200,000 BTC.

Since the January report, the amount of newly moved Bitcoin is about 14,000 BTC (the amount of Bitcoin deposited to exchange wallet addresses). There are still about 23,319 Bitcoins that have not been mixed.

There are about 33,872 bitcoins left in the mixer, and about 3,853 BTC are in the process of being mixed and transferred.
Therefore, a total of 37,725 BTC is about to enter the mixer but has not yet been transferred to the exchange.

By analyzing the daily allocation rate, it can be concluded that Plustoken’s large Bitcoin transfer actions - which were highest during the price strength in September and November 2019, reaching a peak of nearly 4,500 BTC per day, and were in a "flashed" or "paused" state in October and December when market price volatility was weak.

Therefore, the Plustoken Ponzi scheme is "highly sensitive" to price when transferring Bitcoin and may increase the continued strength of price performance in the short term.

In January and February 2020, Plustoken transferred a total of 19,440 bitcoins.

Between August 2019 and March 6, 2020, the scam group has sold approximately $1.3 billion worth of Bitcoin.

OXT Research, PlusToken monthly Bitcoin transfer records

Plustoken has distributed 80% of the digital currency that entered the mixing service since the beginning of August 2019, totaling approximately 139,922 BTC. The coins that entered the mixing state (BTC 37,725) may continue to be distributed and transferred to exchanges.

However, if the remaining 23,504 bitcoins that have not yet entered the mixing state are added, there are still a total of about 61,229 bitcoins that have not been successfully transferred and laundered, and these tokens may still have an impact on the market.
Other Ponzi schemes that have surfaced since the new year include “PlusToken copycats” WoToken and CloudToken. WoToken-related tokens have been directly mixed with PlusToken’s digital currency, and now it has also been proven to be related to the recent PlusToken fund transfer - it is speculated that this may be two Ponzi scheme projects controlled by the same entity.

Six core perpetrators linked to the PlusToken Ponzi scheme were arrested last June, but the stolen funds are still being transferred from one wallet to another every day and are allegedly cashed out to fiat currencies mainly through independent OTC brokers operating on Huobi and OKex.