Sam Bankman-Fried, the ex CEO of FTX, has resurfaced on Twitter and has denied charges that he moved funds out of wallets affiliated with the trading firm Alameda Research, which has now gone out of business.
SBF stated in reply (1) to a story that wallets linked with Alameda transferred funds merely days after Bankman-Fried was granted bail that he could not have moved any of the funds because he no longer has access to all those wallets. The story claimed that the fund's transfer occurred just days after Bankman-Fried was released on bail. He added:
"I believe it is likely the case that various legit legs of FTX have the ability to access these funds; hopefully that's what's happening here. If not, hopefully one steps in soon to do so. I would be happy to help advise regulators on this if any wanted."
I believe it is likely the case that various legit legs of FTX have the ability to access these funds; hopefully that's what's happening here. If not, hopefully one steps in soon to do so. I would be happy to help advise regulators on this if any wanted.
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) December 30, 2022
On December 28, a few Twitter users and internet investigators quickly discovered the transfer of funds from Alameda accounts. These wallets exchanged varying amounts of ERC-20 tokens for ETH and USDT, which were channeled through quick exchangers and mixers.
An influential on-chain analyst by the name of ZachXBT revealed that the Alameda wallet was finally exchanging cash for Bitcoin by using decentralized exchanges such as FixedFloat & ChangeNow.
Some people have hypothesized that SBF or another insider working at FTX could be responsible for what happened. At this time, SBF is being detained at the home of the Bankman-Fried family in Palo Alto while under house arrest. The previous week, he was freed from jail in New York after posting a bond of $250 million.
It is important to remember that just the other day, some internet investigators noticed a string of obfuscated wallet transactions that were supposedly connected to SBF.
Allegations of Withdrawing $684,000
An on-chain investigation conducted by DeFi instructor BowTiedIguana suggests (2) that while he was under house arrest, he may have paid out approximately $684,000 to a crypto currency exchange located in Seychelles.
BowTiedIguana observed that a wallet associated with SBF had transferred all of its lingering crypto tokens to a different Ethereum address. After then, approximately one hundred new deposits were made to the new wallet within three hours from a variety of addresses, the vast majority of which were connected to Alameda Research. They also said:
"In a span of less than four hours, 570 ETH, equivalent to approximately $684,000, was moved out of this new wallet and sent to several different locations. A no KYC exchange based in Seychelles received the funds, and they were then transferred to the Bitcoin network through the Ren Protocol, a bridge Alameda funded."
As the Ethereum blockchain is an immutable public ledger, this on-chain evidence is permanently available to law enforcement and the courts
— BowTiedIguana (@BowTiedIguana) December 30, 2022
For regular research reports subscribe to DeFi Education https://t.co/4YkFIoyHX4
or join the best course in cryptohttps://t.co/A3qmLObtcu
At the next arraignment that will take place on Tuesday, January 3, it has been stated that SBF will likely enter a not-guilty plea to the allegations of fraud and other offenses brought against him. The Southern District of New York had set charges of eight crimes, including wire fraud, conspiracy, and abusing consumer cash. These allegations were brought against him.
