Key Points:

• A suspicious transfer of 3,520 BTC valued at $330.7 million was exchanged for Monero (XMR), according to on-chain researcher ZachXBT.
• The surge in Monero’s price is thought to be connected to laundering activities across multiple instant exchanges.
• Price impacts were exacerbated by limited liquidity caused by exchange delistings.

On-chain analyst ZachXBT indicates that early Monday saw a remarkable escalation in the value of the privacy-focused cryptocurrency, Monero (XMR), by nearly 40% following a significant transfer believed to be linked to a hacking incident.

“Nine hours ago, a suspicious transfer was made of 3,520 BTC ($330.7M). Shortly thereafter, the funds began to be laundered through 6+ instant exchanges for XMR, causing the XMR price to spike…”
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) April 28, 2025

Market observations have shown a significant uptick in volatility due to an influx of buy orders in the XMR-BTC order book, while active wallet metrics had not shown a corresponding rise. The reason for such pronounced price changes is thought to stem from liquidity issues as major exchanges delisted Monero to combat dark net activities, rendering larger purchases more impactful on its market price.

In summary, the recent surge in Monero reflects both potential illicit activities and the volatile nature of cryptocurrency markets.