Recently, the latest major move by the Plus Token wallet has once again stirred the market a bit. At the end of last month, a large number of wallets that had been dormant for years suddenly began transferring ETH. For a time, rumors circulated about assets worth 2 billion US dollars, which scared many people. Later, on-chain analysts came out to debunk the rumors, saying that in reality, there were fewer than 26,000 ETH actively involved in the activity, and the market finally cooled down somewhat.

When it comes to Plus Token, this case is indeed a classic lesson in the crypto world. In 2018, the project appeared under the banner of “smart arbitrage” and cross-chain wallets. Using gimmicks such as “coin kings” and “one-thousand-times coins,” it attracted 2.7 million members. The entire MLM-style system was especially large, reaching more than 3,000 layers at its deepest level. Just looking at the scale makes it clear how aggressively they were pulling in funds at the time.

By mid-2019, withdrawal problems began to surface, and the platform could no longer operate normally. But you know what? Even without an official explanation, some investors still kept pouring money into it. In the end, when Plus Token collapsed, the total value of the cryptocurrencies involved exceeded 15 billion RMB. Where did most of that money go?

According to records from the case files, these funds were mainly laundered through OTC channels, and part of the money was used to purchase real estate and luxury cars. In 2020, 789.5k ETH were dispersedly transferred to thousands of intermediary wallets. By 2021, large amounts of ETH were also transferred—via a certain now-defunct exchange—into a large trading platform. Law enforcement ultimately seized 194,775 BTC, 833,083 ETH, 1.4 million LTC, and various other tokens, with a total value exceeding 15 billion RMB.

The question now is: why have these wallets suddenly become active again? Based on on-chain data analysis, this time’s transfer activity involving Plus Token-related wallets is very likely carried out by individuals who were already released from prison as part of the case. This also serves as a reminder that even after a case is over, the risk associated with the related assets still remains.

To be honest, the Plus Token incident has had a fairly deep impact on the entire crypto market. Many investors who entered the crypto space early suffered heavy losses in this kind of scam. If we compare today’s crypto industry to an emerging stage of development, there are indeed huge opportunities and room for wealth growth—but the premise is that you must protect your own assets and avoid falling into the traps of a Ponzi scheme. The lesson of Plus Token is right there, and it is worth every investor thinking carefully about it.