Investing.com - The Ethereum (ETH) currency recently experienced a sharp rise reaching $4,780, which granted a number of prominent pirates massive fortunes after they exploited this jump to sell their illicit gains.

In three separate cases, data on the chain published by the "EmberCN" account on platform X revealed that the pirates liquidated their Ethereum holdings, achieving profits in the tens of millions.

The pirates who exploited a vulnerability in the "Radiant Capital" protocol – which accusations suggest a North Korean entity is behind – managed to withdraw about $53 million in assets from the protocol last October. They converted most of these funds into 21,957 Ethereum at an average of $2,414 per coin, then sold 9,631 Ethereum this week for $44 million in stablecoins.

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Additional profits exceeding the value of the stolen assets

These pirates still hold 12,326 Ethereum in addition to the revenues from stablecoins, totaling $101 million, which is about $48.3 million more than the original value of the stolen assets.

A similar scenario emerged with the "Infini" hack in February, where the attacker stole $49.5 million in USDC and purchased 17,696 Ethereum at a price of $2,798 each.

While attempting to launder money through the "Tornado Cash" service, he cashed out 5,000 Ethereum, in addition to selling 3,540 Ethereum for $13 million in stablecoins at an average of $3,762. With the subsequent rise in Ethereum's price, the value of what he had left increased, yielding an additional profit of about $25.15 million above the original stolen amount.

Other pirates are exploiting the wave

The third case involves an unknown hacker who managed to steal 17,412 Ethereum from the "THORChain" and "Chainflip" protocols last March, selling them for $33.9 million in DAI at a price of $1,947.

In June, this hacker returned to the market and purchased 4,957 Ethereum at a price of $2,495, then sold them early Friday for $22.13 million in stablecoins at a price of $4,464, achieving a net profit of $9.76 million.

These three hacks are part of a rising wave that has continued for 18 months, where investors lost about $3.1 billion in the first half of 2025, compared to $1.49 billion in 2024.