- 27 PlusToken scammers have been arrested around the world to bring an end to the bitcoin dumps
- PlusToken raked in $5.8 billion worth of crypto in just over a year and had been liquidating it
- The arrests follow an initial six arrests last August
The PlusToken scam finally seems to be at an end after it was revealed that 27 team members have been arrested by Chinese police. The presence of the PlusToken billions has hung over the cryptocurrency markets like a sword of Damocles ever since it was revealed that they had purloined some $5.8 billion in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other tokens between May 2018 and August 2019, but it seems that the matter can finally be put to bed.
China Behind Raft of PlusToken Arrests
News of the PlusToken arrests came yesterday, nearly a year after the initial round of arrests in Port Vila on the island of Vanuatu, where six individuals were apprehended on suspicion of running the scam from the island. Given the size of the PlusToken scam however it was clear that the manpower didn’t stop there, and months’ worth of work seems to have finally come to fruition.
The Chinese Ministry of Public was apparently behind the move and directed authorities all over the world to apprehend those responsible, which has now happened.
Market Breathes Sigh of Relief
PlusToken was thought to be behind several Bitcoin market dumps in the past year as the scammers tried to liquidate their ill-gotten gains. In one instance in March they moved ₿13,000 to a Bitcoin mixing service, shortly after which the Bitcoin market tanked from $9,100 to $7,700 in a matter of hours.
It is not known exactly how much crypto was left in the PlusToken wallets or indeed if anyone can now get access, but at least the crypto markets should finally be safe from the threat of a massive Bitcoin selloff, from this source at least.
