Tron's native token TRX dropped roughly 7% over 24 hours to trade near $0.308 on Saturday, 31 October, as market participants reacted to a large accumulation of the cryptocurrency by the attacker behind the $6.36 billion Binance breach. The token's market capitalisation stood at approximately $29.3 billion at 17:50 London time, according to CoinPaprika data, representing a 6.4% decline over the past week.
The sell-off follows an unusual sequence of events that began on 29 October, when attackers drained funds from Binance hot wallets across ten different blockchains. According to blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs, the theft has been attributed to North Korea's TraderTraitor group. On the Tron network alone, the attacker removed 612.7 million USDT and 46.4 million TRX from a Binance hot wallet.
Why the hacker swapped USDT for TRX
Because Tether retains the ability to freeze USDT tokens, the attacker moved quickly to convert the stolen stablecoins into TRX, which lacks a central issuer capable of blocking transfers. Bitquery data shows the attacker swapped 234 million USDT for TRX on the decentralised exchange SunSwap, paying an average of $0.367 per token when the market price was approximately $0.33. This aggressive buying briefly pushed TRX to around $0.37 on Kraken late on 29 October.
In total, the hacker acquired roughly 638 million TRX through these swaps. That buying pressure has now reversed into a significant overhang, as traders speculate about whether the attacker will liquidate the position.
Selling pressure emerges
Early signs of distribution have already appeared. Crypto Briefing, citing Whale Alert, reported that a wallet holding stolen funds moved 120 million TRX to an unknown address on 30 October. Bitquery noted that 15 new wallets funded through the hacker's Tron addresses sold 8.9 million TRX for $3.1 million of USDT in the early hours of 30 October, though the largest stash had not moved at that point.
Tether has frozen 378.7 million USDT across two attacker wallets on Tron, according to TRM Labs, but the TRX tokens themselves cannot be frozen by any central authority. This asymmetry leaves the market exposed to the risk of further sales.
Technical levels and market reaction
Analysts at Coinpaper identified support levels at $0.32, $0.31 and $0.30, with resistance at $0.33, $0.34 and $0.36. With the price already below $0.31, the $0.30 area is the next critical test, close to the token's lowest point of the past year. On OKX, TRX was down 9% from its level 24 hours earlier, while Kraken showed an intraday low of $0.3083, its weakest level of the week. The token is now about 30% below its all-time high of $0.44, set in December 2024.
Looking ahead, TRON Proposal 108, a smart-contract storage upgrade, is scheduled to take effect on 2 November at 12:00 GMT if approved by the network's super representatives. No major bank or broker publishes a formal TRX price target.
What investors should watch
Tron's fundamentals as a stablecoin network have not changed, but its price is now closely tied to the actions of a single wallet cluster. Until the hacker's TRX stash is sold or traced, sharp moves in either direction are likely. Investors seeking exposure can compare fees, security records and supported coins on various crypto exchanges.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
