Many people were puzzled by the timing of the latest money transfer from Alameda wallets just days after Sam Bankman Fried was granted bail.
How did this happen?
Just days after the former CEO Sam Bankman Fried was freed on a $250 million bond, money was detected leaving the crypto wallets linked to the now-defunct trading business Alameda Research, a sister company of FTX. More than that, how this cash was transferred caught the community's attention. The movement of money from Alameda wallets sparked a collective interest. It was discovered that the Alameda wallet was exchanging ERC20 token bits for ETH/USDT (1) and that the ETH was subsequently routed through instant exchanges and mixers.
Alameda ETH addresses are digging around in the sofa for spare change and swapping bits ERC20s for ETH/USDT.
— 🏴∴Ergo∴🏴 (@ErgoBTC) December 28, 2022
ETH and USDT then funneled through instant exchangers.
Rings some major alarm bells...https://t.co/GRVtChDL9rhttps://t.co/LJBi7cuFZLhttps://t.co/nxcXWgm5VO pic.twitter.com/AqcgxVRoMr
For instance, Over 600 ETH were received by a wallet address that begins with 0x64e9 from Alameda wallets; half of the transaction was converted to USDT, and the other portion was delivered to change now. ZachXBT, an on-chain expert, saw that the Alameda wallet finally exchanged the money for Bitcoin (2). They are employing decentralized marketplaces like ChangeNow and FixedFloat. Hackers and exploiters frequently utilize these platforms to conceal their transaction paths.
Alameda ETH addresses are digging around in the sofa for spare change and swapping bits ERC20s for ETH/USDT.
— 🏴∴Ergo∴🏴 (@ErgoBTC) December 28, 2022
ETH and USDT then funneled through instant exchangers.
Rings some major alarm bells...https://t.co/GRVtChDL9rhttps://t.co/LJBi7cuFZLhttps://t.co/nxcXWgm5VO pic.twitter.com/AqcgxVRoMr
The community's response
Every day brings a new twist to the never-ending FTX issue. The community is concerned about the most recent transfer of money to extract whatever is still in those cryptocurrency wallets. Many people hypothesized that the way these monies are being switched suggests an exploiter; however, now that Bankman-criminal Fried's record is exposed, Many people assumed that whatever was still in those wallets was being stolen by insiders.
sam desperately trying to funnel money out. why did his bail condition not include no computer/internet access?
— smartwater 9ph alkwater (@alkwater9ph) December 28, 2022
Others questioned the bond requirements and questioned why he was permitted internet access. The former CEO was alleged to be desperately attempting to siphon money out; A user questioned why his bail terms included a ban on using a computer or the internet. Bankman Fried's bail was concurrent with the continuous cash transfers from Alameda accounts, and shortly after FTX declared bankruptcy on November 11th, millions of dollars were stolen from exchange wallets. Right after FTX filed for bankruptcy, the $352 million FTX exploit is also being looked into by the US Department of Justice.
