Ethereum validators captured the bulk of nearly $30 million in payments generated during the trading frenzy around Binance's $6.3 billion hack. Bitquery says the attackers lost approximately $119 million in rushed swaps, while trading firms kept about $60 million in profits after costs.
Ethereum validators captured the bulk of nearly $30 million in payments as traders raced to exploit the attackers' trades after Binance's $6.3 billion hack.
According to an Oct. 30 investigation by Bitquery, the attackers lost approximately $119 million by exchanging stolen cryptocurrency at unfavorable prices while racing to move funds beyond the reach of stablecoin issuers. The hurried trades created extraordinary opportunities for arbitrage, letting trading firms and bots retain approximately $60 million in profits after costs.
Block builders see tips jump more than 2,200-fold
Bitquery found that Ethereum block builders received 10,251 ETH in tips between 20:30 UTC on Oct. 29 and 01:00 UTC on Oct. 30, compared with just 4.6 ETH during the equivalent period the previous night. The hackers were converting stolen stablecoins and other assets into ETH and TRX before their holdings could be frozen.
On Ethereum alone, the attackers paid approximately $71.5 million above prevailing market prices to acquire ETH. Their buying pushed prices in Uniswap's main WETH/USDT liquidity pool as much as 38% above the broader market, creating opportunities for arbitrage bots to purchase ETH elsewhere and sell it into the inflated pool.
Capturing those profits required priority access to Ethereum's limited blockspace, which set off a bidding war through the maximal extractable value (MEV) market. Bitquery's tracing showed validators received approximately 11,217 ETH over the four-and-a-half-hour period, while builders retained about 564 ETH, largely through Titan's relay.
Some bots lose money on the trades
The competition also cost some traders. Bitquery recorded 10,235 failed Ethereum transactions during the period, compared with approximately 3,500 the previous night, as bots paid gas fees while competing for the same opportunities.
The activity reached other assets as well. On Tron, the hackers exchanged approximately 234 million USDT for TRX, paying $22.4 million above market prices, and traders exploiting the gaps generated another $12.4 million before fees. The attackers also sacrificed approximately $24.8 million by selling stolen tokens, including UNI, PEPE and ENA, below market prices.
Not every bot came out ahead. A wallet Bitquery associated with the MEV bot jaredfromsubway captured $2.87 million in trading discounts but paid $2.95 million in fees, a loss of roughly $110,000. Another unnamed bot paid $3.51 million to capture $3.24 million in opportunities, a loss of approximately $820,000.
Source: CryptoSlate
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