Voyager Shiba Inu sales continue, what’s going on?

by Arthur · March 2, 2023

The Shiba Inu price may continue to face heavy selling pressure in the coming weeks as bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Voyager Digital continues to transfer large amounts of cryptocurrencies to Coinbase, which is likely to cash them out. Voyager currently still holds $631 million in crypto assets, with SHIB accounting for the third highest value.

A few hours ago, blockchain intelligence firm PeckShield shared a scoop that Voyager has once again sent cryptocurrencies to Coinbase to boost liquidity. PeckShield Alert stated via Twitter that Voyager transferred 300 trillion SHIB worth $3.7 million, as well as 4,000 ETH worth $6.6 million and 5 million VGX worth $2 million to Coinbase.

Specifically, the address that made the transfer to Coinbase received 68 trillion Shiba Inu, roughly $820,000, from a dormant 0x31FC address shortly before the transfer. This address had received these 68 trillion SHIB two years ago at a price of $528 and had held them ever since.

#PeckShieldAlert Voyager has transmitted 4k $ETH ($6.6 million), 300 billion $SHIB ($3.7 million) and 5 million $VGX ($2 million) to Coinbase
Before moving out, Voyager 68B received $SHIB (~820k) from a quiescent address 0x31FC. The address had received 68B $SHIB 2 years ago (~$528 at time of transfer) pic.twitter.com/iV7vFrykxT

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) March 2, 2023

PeckShield also revealed that a Voyager-branded address received around $50 million USDC from Coinbase in the past few hours. As Bitcoinist reported, this appears to confirm and expand the sale of Voyager assets.

Just a few days ago, blockchain tracking firms Arkham and Lookonchain reported that Voyager received $100 million USDC from Coinbase over the past week. Also, Voyager has been sending assets to Coinbase almost every day since February 14th.

As for Shiba Inu, Voyager had transferred 2.24 trillion SHIB, equivalent to about $28 million, to Coinbase since February 14th. Before today’s sale, the bankrupt crypto lender’s holdings still included 6.5 trillion SHIB, roughly $81 million. Voyager’s SHIB holdings are topped only by Ethereum with 172,223 ETH ($276 million) and 186 million USDC.

Shiba Inu Price Dump Incoming?

The price of the Shiba Inu has been on a downward trend since early February, and fears of a big Voyager sell-off seem to be weighing heavily on sentiment at the moment. If Voyager were to sell all of its Shiba Inu coins, worth about $77.3 million, there would be a massive selling pressure that would likely send the price plummeting.

The development also comes at a time when Shiba Inu is about to launch the beta version of its layer 2 network Shibarium. Thus, on the one hand, there is the potential for a strong move to the north, and on the other hand, there is a risk of a Voyager dump to the south.

However, it is not yet clear whether there will be a sale. Voyager filed for bankruptcy in July 2022 after Three Arrows Capital, the former backers, failed to repay $650 million in loans. Currently, BinanceUS is fighting for its right to buy the company.

If Voyager holds on to Shiba Inu until Binance acquires the company and receives the green light, a sale could be avoided. Recently, it was revealed that account holders of Voyager agreed to a majority for the takeover of BinanceUS.

The crypto exchange submitted a $1.022 billion offer in December 2022. However, there are regulatory headwinds to the acquisition. Both the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and local governments in the state of Texas raised concerns.

At press time, SHIB was trading at $0.00001194, struggling to hold key support at $0.000012 on the 1-day chart.