NewsRoss Ulbricht’s Wallets Lose $12 Million: Memecoin Trading Error Explained
Vignesh S G31 Jan 20253 min read
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 J. Trump is a US-based business tycoon, pro-crypto politician, and 47th (present) President of the United States. He comprehends the significance and needs of the modern fintech world, and people look up to him as a dominant pro-crypto politician. Once doubtful about Bitcoin's dominance, he said in a tweet in 2019, “I am not a fan of Bitcoin", but now has a significant amount of cryptocurrency holdings in his pool. He has also signed an Executive Order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which highlights his commitment to the future of cryptocurrency. Quick Facts Full name Donald John Trump Birth 14-06-1946, New York, United States Nationality American Education BS from the University of Pennsylvania Famous For Business, Politics Donald Trump - Career Highlights & Events 2016 – Elected as the 45th President of the United States from the Republican Party. 2017 – Signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, impacting investment environments 2019 – Slammed crypto king Bitcoin on X, calls it "not money". 2025 – A gala party was hosted by him for the top 220 Trump meme coin holders. President . Notably, the launch of ROSS came just after his release, adding to the intrigue surrounding his name.
Never Miss a Beat in the Crypto World!
Stay ahead with breaking news, expert analysis, and real-time updates on the latest trends in Bitcoin, altcoins, DeFi, NFTs, and more.
