A cryptocurrency investor has reaped a windfall of approximately $15.5 million after selling wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), a token representing the flagship cryptocurrency on Ethereum Vitrtual Machine (EVM) compatible networks, that they acquired over a year ago.
According to on-chain analytics service Lookonchain, the savvy cruptocurrency whale bought 721 WBTC on leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance between August 21 and August 25 of last year at around $26,191 per BTC.
The trader has now sold 540 WBTC at around $54,853 per coin, effectively making around $15.5 million worth of profit in slightly less than a year.
The whale offloaded most of their funds after a massive cryptocurrency market sell-off saw the market’s Crypto Fear & Greed Index plunge into its lowest level in two years signaling “extreme fear” among investors for the first time since July 2022.
The index, which utilizes multiple sources, including social media, to produce a relative number that reflects investor sentiment, has risen from 6 when BTC dropped below $18,000 last year. Per the index, behavior in the cryptocurrency market is “very emotional” and people “get greedy when the market is rising which results in FOMO (Fear of missing out).”
That sell-off came amid a wider financial markets rout over a confluence of various factors, including investors concerns surrounding economic growth and the potential overvaluation of artificial intelligence.
Economic data in the United States has started pointing to a potential recession after worst-than-unexpected unemployment data triggered what’s known as the Sahm rule, an indicator that measures the three-month moving average of the U.S. unemployment rate against its previous 12-month low.
Meanwhile, rising tensions in the Middle East exacerbated investor anxiety as Iran is expected to soon attack Israel in response to the killing of Hamas’s leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Featured image via Pixabay.
