Wallet with Mr. Buterin’s name bought USDC for about 100 million yen ─ USDC was 89 cents on the weekend | coindesk JAPAN | Coindesk Japan

A wallet named after Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin spent 500 Ethereum (ETH), or just over $700,000, over the weekend on a little-known scam. Minted RAI, a tablecoin, and used the funds to buy USD Coin (USDC), which was trading below the $1 peg.

A wallet called vitalik.eth was created seven years ago and held over 5,360 ETH as of March 14. An Ethereum Names Service (ENS) domain is tied to a crypto wallet, but not necessarily held by a prominent person associated with the name.

“An address labeled Vitalik deposited 500 ETH in Reflexer Finance to mint 150,000 RAI and swapped 132,500 RAI for 378,500 USDC,” blockchain security firm PeckShield said on March 13. “In addition, we swapped 17,500 RAI for 50,000 DAI within the last three hours.”

#PeckShieldAlert Vitalik-labeled address has deposited 500 $ETH in Reflexer to mint 150k $RAIand swapped 132.5k $RAI for 378.5k $USDCAdditionally, they swapped 17.5k $RAI for 50k $DAI within the last 3 hours https://t.co/dM1pheTW0x pic.twitter.com/camCgl1fsk

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) March 11, 2023

Buterin previously blogged about RAI’s unique mechanics. Unlike many other stablecoins, Reflexer-issued RAI is not pegged to any fiat currency and is instead backed by ETH. RAI could be exchanged for $2.7 worth of ETH as of the 14th.

USDC depegged over the weekend after Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapsed on the 10th and the entire cryptocurrency market fell. The companies affected included US-based stablecoin issuer Circle. The company held a portion of its USDC reserves in SVB as of Jan. 17.

USDC regained its peg on the night of the 13th, and buyers who grabbed USDC at the low price were able to make about 10% profit in just over 48 hours.

｜Translation: coindesk JAPAN
｜Editing: Toshihiko Inoue
| Image: Vitalik Buterin (CoinDesk)
｜Original: Vitalik Buterin-Named Wallet Sent 500 Ether to Mint RAI, Buy USDC Amid Depegging