One of CrypToadz’s non-fungible tokens (NFTs), whose average price does not exceed $1000, was purchased for an astonishing 1,055 Wrapped Ethereum (WETH), an equivalent of $1.6 million.
The deal took place on the OpenSea market on October 9. The NFT represents “a small, warty, amphibious creature,” one of 6,969 units minted by pseudonymous digital artist Gremplin. The CrypToadz collection launched during the 2021 NFT boom and surpassed a trading volume of 12,000 ETH ($38 million) in its first ten days on the market.
The purchase wallet was funded by a wallet that took money from Tornado Cashhttps://t.co/nNhKvSVhoz pic.twitter.com/aInHO8vNyG
— TexasHedge (@0xTexasHedge) October 9, 2023
However, the price the anonymous user paid for the NFT raised questions from the community. Two weeks ago, this item was purchased for 0.95 ETH (about $1600), only to be sold for a thousand times higher price.
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Additionally, the purchase was funded from a digital wallet, which was part of the transaction chain, anonymized by the Ethereum coin mixing service Tornado Cash. The new owner of the CrypToadz NFT received 1,115.9 ETH ($1.6 million) on October 5
Although some Twitter users preferred to classify the strange purchase as a “fat finger mistake” during the transaction, it could be an example of wash trading, a tactic to withdraw money of suspicious origin through a long series of deals and exchanges.
Tornado Cash is known for its popularity among scammers looking to launder their money. In August 2023, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) even announced sanctions against the crypto mixer for its alleged role in laundering crime proceeds. However, these sanctions could not completely stop the use of the mixer.
For example, in July 2023, nearly $60 million worth of Ether, stolen from the AnubisDAO two years earlier, was moved via Tornado Cash. The person who owned the 13,556 ETH divided and transferred the funds in 100 ETH transactions.
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