Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov has intensified his token-selling spree.
In addition to the 72 million Curve DAO (CRV) tokens he sold to several entities up until yesterday, he offloaded another 34 million CRV to a diverse group of investors in apparent over-the-counter deals. In total, Egorov has parted with 106 million CRV tokens, bringing in a sum of $42 million, according to on-chain data aggregated by Nansen analyst Sandra Leow.
The recent sales include transactions with entities such as Wintermute (12.5 million CRV), an individual trader named Llanero (0.27 million CRV), and a wallet address connected to the former xDAI deployer (6.25 million CRV), according to Leow.
Previously, Egorov also made OTC deals with notable figures in the crypto space. Huobi’s co-founder Jun Du bought 10 million CRV tokens, while Tron founder Justin Sun purchased 5 million CRV for $2 million. Other buyers include crypto trader DCFGod, who bought 4.25 million CRV, and NFT investor Jeffrey Huang (alias Machi Big Brother), who acquired 3.75 million CRV. An anonymous entity secured the largest OTC deal with Egorov with a purchase of 17.5 million CRV tokens.
Reducing risk of liquidation
The timing of these sales aligns with challenging dynamics for the CRV token, which saw a 23% decline over the past month following a security exploit affecting multiple Curve Finance liquidity pools. With the CRV token currently priced around $0.57, market observers are keenly watching Egorov’s subsequent actions.
The deals aim to reduce potential liquidation risks associated with DeFi platforms. Egorov’s outstanding debt across various DeFi platforms currently stands at $65.3 million, as noted by on-chain analyst Lookonchain. Egorov has been working to repay some of this debt to mitigate the risk of liquidation. Earlier today, he repaid 7.5 million in MIM stablecoin on Abracadabra, followed by an additional 6.1 million USDT stablecoin repayment to lending protocol Aave.
Curve Finance has also sent an on-chain message to the exploiter, asking for them to return the stolen funds.
Disclosure: Wintermute co-founder Evgeny Gaevoy sits on The Block’s board.