Monero Jumps as $120M USDT Trail Runs Through Privacy Coin Swaps
Monero rose sharply after an unknown entity routed about $120 million in USDT through swaps that included large XMR purchases. Tether later froze $72 million in USDT tied to the activity, according to onchain investigator ZachXBT.
What happened?
Monero rose sharply after an unknown entity routed about $120 million in USDT through swaps that included large XMR purchases. Tether later froze $72 million in USDT tied to the activity, according to onchain investigator ZachXBT.
Why it matters
The episode matters because it shows how quickly large flows can distort markets when liquidity is thin. CoinDesk reported that Monero does not trade in large volumes, meaning one major buyer can move the price sharply. It also highlights the continuing tension between privacy-focused assets, blockchain tracing, and centralized stablecoin controls.
Monero surged this week after an unknown entity moved about $120 million in USDT through a complicated series of crypto swaps, including large purchases of the privacy coin. According to onchain investigator ZachXBT, the buying pressure helped push XMR from roughly $330 to an intraday high near $438, a move of as much as 33%. Tether later froze $72 million in USDT linked to the activity.
The episode matters because it shows how quickly large flows can distort markets when liquidity is thin. CoinDesk reported that Monero does not trade in large volumes, meaning one major buyer can move the price sharply. It also highlights the continuing tension between privacy-focused assets, blockchain tracing, and centralized stablecoin controls.
ZachXBT said an address received 120.2 million USDT on Tron on Thursday before the funds were split and sent in multiple directions. Some of the money moved into Monero, which is designed to obscure sender and receiver information and is therefore harder to trace than many other crypto assets.
Other funds were routed elsewhere. ZachXBT traced more than $12 million to KuCoin deposit addresses and about $8 million to instant swap services. Another $8 million was bridged from Tron to Bitcoin and Ethereum through Near Intents, a cross-chain swap tool.
The origin of the $120 million remains unclear. However, CoinDesk reported that the pattern of rapid movement into a privacy coin, instant swaps and cross-chain transfers bears hallmarks of money laundering, while Tether’s blacklist action prevented the frozen USDT from being moved or cashed out.