In a recent development, wallets linked to the now-defunct crypto trading firms FTX and Alameda Research have reportedly moved a staggering $10.8 million across various accounts in major cryptocurrency platforms, including Binance, Coinbase, and Wintermute. This movement was detected by the blockchain analysis firm Spot On Chain, which has been monitoring the transactions of these entities.
According to Spot On Chain’s findings, since October 24, the defunct entities have orchestrated transfers totaling an astonishing $551 million using 59 different cryptocurrency tokens. The most recent transfer of $10.8 million involved eight different tokens, including StepN’s GMT, Uniswap’s UNI, Synapse’s SYN, Klaytn’s KLAY, Fantom’s FTM, Shiba Inu, as well as small amounts of Arbitrum’s ARB and Optimism’s OP.
This is not the first instance of substantial transactions involving these entities. On October 24, $10 million was transferred from the FTX and Alameda wallets to a single address, later redistributed to accounts on Binance and Coinbase. Another transaction occurred on November 1, involving $13.1 million moved to Binance and Coinbase accounts.
The movement of funds dates back to March, when FTX and Alameda initiated the process of recovering assets for investors. During this period, three wallets associated with the firms moved $145 million worth of stablecoins to various platforms, including Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken. Notably, $69.64 million in Tether was transferred to custodial wallets on crypto exchanges, while the remaining $75.94 million in USD Coin found its way to a Coinbase custodial wallet.
Despite the recovery efforts, FTX faced significant financial challenges, with total liabilities surpassing $8.8 billion, even though the exchange managed to retrieve over $5 billion in cash and liquid cryptocurrencies. The ongoing complexities surrounding these transactions highlight the intricacies and potential risks associated with the cryptocurrency market. Authorities and industry observers will likely continue monitoring the situation closely for any potential legal and regulatory implications.
