OTC Whale Moves $494M From Aave Amid Exploit Crisis – What You Need to Know!

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OTC Whale Pulls $272M in wstETH and $222M in cbBTC From Aave After Exploit Grows

A large cryptocurrency trader, often called a ‘whale,’ recently moved $272 million worth of wstETH and $222 million of cbBTC out of the Aave platform. This activity happened as concerns grew about a potential exploit related to rsETH, causing Ethereum usage on Aave to reach its maximum capacity.

A large OTC whale moved major assets out of Aave as pressure spread across the protocol.

On-chain trackers said the wallet withdrew 98,032 wstETH worth about $272 million.

The same digital wallet also withdrew 3,000 cbBTC, worth approximately $221.6 million. This happened after increasing concerns related to the recent KelpDAO rsETH security incident.

Whale Withdraws Major Holdings From Aave

This wallet had already accumulated a significant amount of Ethereum before the recent price change. Data from the blockchain reveals that it previously bought 163,405 ETH, worth approximately $440 million.

In my research, I discovered the same wallet was also responsible for purchasing 4,000 cbBTC, which at the time equated to roughly $296 million. This significant purchase established the wallet as one of the largest publicly known holders of cbBTC in this instance.

When market conditions shifted, the large cryptocurrency holder started lessening their investments in Aave. They removed a significant amount of wstETH from the platform.

The company also significantly reduced its holdings of cbBTC. These sales were noteworthy due to the large amounts involved.

A large cryptocurrency trader, known as an ‘OTC whale,’ recently moved significant amounts of two different cryptocurrencies off of an exchange. They had previously purchased $440 million worth of one and $296 million of another. Now, they’ve withdrawn $272 million of the first and $221.6 million of the second.

Due to the recent KelpDAO rsETH bridge hack, he couldn’t access his funds and instead quickly exchanged 7,438 aEthWETH (worth $16.83 million)…

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain)

The whale also couldn’t directly withdraw ETH, so it used a different method to get its funds.

In my research, I observed a significant transaction where approximately $16.83 million worth of aEthWETH – around 7,438 units – was converted into stETH and ETH. However, this exchange wasn’t free; it involved some associated costs.

According to data trackers, the wallet involved in the swap received 1,930 stETH and 5,272 ETH. However, the trade still resulted in a loss of 237 ETH.

That loss was worth about $540,000 at the time. The wallet still has 10,000 ETH left on Aave.

KelpDAO Exploit Raises Pressure on ETH Liquidity

Increased market pressure came after news of a security breach affecting the KelpDAO rsETH bridge, with losses estimated around $292 million.

The incident immediately caused worry among users with connected accounts in decentralized finance. This led people to focus on the Ethereum market on Aave.

According to reports, stolen rsETH was used to secure a loan on Aave, resulting in approximately $236 million being borrowed against it.

This development sparked new worries about the stability of the support behind it, and also brought up concerns about whether there would be enough available funds.

Shortly after that, the Aave pool for ETH became completely full. This meant that almost no ETH was left available for users to withdraw.

During those times, it can be difficult for users to sell their investments. Those with large holdings may experience even greater restrictions.

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AAVE Falls as Traders React to Market Stress

AAVE’s price fell significantly as news emerged, with the token losing around 20% of its value during the day.

News of the security issue and a decrease in available Ether caused traders to sell. Large withdrawals by a major investor intensified this selling pressure.

JUST IN: is down -20% today after a $292M Kelp DAO rsETH exploit triggered a liquidity crisis.

Aave’s ETH pool just hit 100% utilization. That means there’s almost no ETH left to withdraw now

— CryptoJack (@cryptojack)

Meanwhile, reports showed approximately $5.4 billion had been withdrawn from the market, which increased worries about its stability.

Significant withdrawals can worsen market downturns, and in this situation, they also drew attention to Aave.

As Live Bitcoin News previously reported, the recent Kelp DAO hack has created new challenges for Aave. Lookonchain revealed that the hacker used rsETH as collateral to withdraw ETH.

Things got pretty hairy recently. Aave ended up with some bad debt after the event, and people started pulling their money out – over $5.4 billion worth! It also maxed out how much Ethereum was being used on the platform, hitting 100% utilization. It was a stressful time as an investor, to say the least.

As a researcher tracking recent market activity, I’ve observed some significant movements. Specifically, Justin Sun recently withdrew a substantial amount of Ethereum – 65,584 ETH, which equates to roughly $154 million. Simultaneously, we saw AAVE’s price drop by over 18%, likely due to large holders selling off their positions during this period of decline.

Smaugvision and another large crypto investor, 0xFC56, both recently sold AAVE tokens. Smaugvision sold 20,015 AAVE for $2.06 million in USDC, and 0xFC56 sold 20,000 AAVE for $2.05 million in USDC.

Whale 0xA2E4 also sold 19,666 AAVE for ETH and WBTC at an average price of about $99.

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2026-04-20 13:27