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Vignesh S G
Vignesh S G
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- Jan 31, 2025 10:44 UTC
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Ross Ulbricht’s Wallets Lose $12 Million: Memecoin Trading Error Explained
Wallets linked to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht lost $12 million due to trading errors with the ROSS memecoin.
The loss occurred when the wallet handler mistakenly set up liquidity pools at incorrect prices on the Raydium exchange.
The ROSS memecoin's value has plummeted, and Ulbricht's wallets still hold a significant portion of its supply.
Some cryptocurrency wallets connected to Ross Ulbricht, infamous for his role in the Silk Road black market, have just lost a jaw-dropping $12 million. The cause? A simple yet costly trading mistake involving ROSS, a fan-made memecoin.
The report was initially revealed by Arkham Intelligence, a renowned blockchain analytics organisation. In the last seven days, the price of ROSS has experienced a decline of 48.35%. Here is what has happened so far.
What Was the Trading Error?
Arkham Intelligence revealed that the loss happened when the person managing Ulbricht’s wallets mistakenly set up a liquidity pool on the Raydium exchange at the wrong price.
On a decentralized exchange (DEX) like Raydium, liquidity providers deposit tokens into a pool, which traders can buy and sell from. In return, providers earn fees from trading activity.
In this case, the handler set the pool price too low, making the tokens much cheaper than they should have been. A Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) bot quickly spotted the mistake, bought the cheap tokens, and sold them for a profit.
The first error caused a loss of around $1.5 million. Shockingly, the handler made the same mistake again, leading to another $10.5 million loss.
ROSS Price Takes a Major Hit
As a result of the errors connected to Ulbricht’s wallets, the ROSS market has dropped by an alarming 90%. Despite this, data shows that Ulbricht’s wallets still hold at least 10% of the total ROSS supply.
Ross Ulbricht’s Controversial Past
Ross Ulbricht is one of the most controversial figures in cryptocurrency. He gained attention when he was arrested for running Silk Road, an online black market that used Bitcoin for payments. In 2015, he was sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years in prison.
Ulbricht’s family has launched several campaigns calling for his release, with some, like FreeRoss.org, receiving significant support from the crypto community. On January 22, Ulbricht was pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump 
Donald Trump Donald Trump is an American former president politician, businessman, and media personality, who served as the 45th president of the U.S. between 2017 to 2021. Trump earned a Bachelor of science in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968. Trump won the 2016 presidential election as the Republican Party nominee against Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote. As president, Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted military funding toward building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, and implemented a family separation policy. Trump has remained a prominent figure in the Republican Party and is considered a likely candidate for the 2024 presidential election President . Notably, the launch of ROSS came just after his release, adding to the intrigue surrounding his name.
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