Key Takeaways
- $591 million in transfers happened since October 24, involving 59 different cryptocurrency tokens.
- Assets were moved from FTX wallets to major exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, OKX, and Galaxy Digital OTC.
In a recent series of transactions over four days, wallets associated with the defunct crypto trading firms FTX and Alameda Research made a significant move, transferring $23.59 million worth of digital assets to major cryptocurrency exchanges.
The identification of this movement was carried out by blockchain analytics firm Spot On Chain, estimating a staggering $591 million in transfers since October 24, involving 59 different cryptocurrency tokens.
FTX-linked wallets orchestrated the latest transfer, involving 19 tokens. Notable among them were 3,150 Ether valued at $6.8 million, 59.6 million Aleph.im (ALEPH) worth $6.41 million, $2.48 million in Curve DAO (CRV) tokens, $990,000 in Avalanche AVAX, and $848,000 of Chainlink’s LINK.
Additionally, various assets like Pundi X (PUNDIX), Reserve Rights (RSR), Dogecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Axie Infinity, Polygon Matic, Uniswap, Orbs, Frax Share, Polkadot, Stepn, 1inch, Solana, totaling $6.07 million, were part of these transfers.
Interestingly, these assets were moved from FTX wallets to major exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, OKX, and Galaxy Digital OTC. Notably, on October 24, FTX and Alameda wallets initiated a $10 million transfer to a single wallet address, later redistributing the funds to Binance and Coinbase accounts. A similar transaction occurred on November 1, involving $13.1 million moved to Binance and Coinbase accounts.
Amid financial uncertainties and legal troubles, these substantial transfers seem to be a strategic move to generate liquidity. The objective is to meet obligations to creditors, reflecting a common practice in navigating the complexities of bankruptcy proceedings.
The funds’ movement traces back to March when FTX and Alameda embarked on the journey to recover assets for investors. During this period, three wallets associated with these entities moved $145 million worth of stablecoins to various platforms, including Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken.
Despite recovering over $5 billion in cash and liquid cryptocurrencies, a significant outstanding liability of $3.8 billion remains for FTX. Adding to the challenges, the recent guilty verdict of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), FTX’s founder, on charges including money laundering and fraud, casts a shadow over the financial and operational outlook of FTX and Alameda Research. Yet, the crypto exchange appears determined to navigate its financial complexities and meet obligations through strategic asset transfers.
