Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX exchange and hedge fund Alameda Research, is reportedly cashing out crypto funds while using coin mixers to obfuscate transactions shortly after being released from federal custody on bail.
On-chain investigations indicate that the disgraced crypto frontman has already cashed out over $680,000 in a Seychelles-based crypto exchange despite being under house arrest. Many in the crypto community might argue that Bankman-Fried is getting ready to flee.
$680,000 Alameda-Linked Funds On The Move
Former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried is moving large amounts of cryptocurrency.
After being released, SBF sent the bulk of his remaining crypto tokens in his public wallet address to a newly created address. According to decentralized finance strategist BowTiedIguana, Bankman-Fried conducted a series of transactions. This means he could have breached the bail condition to not make financial transactions for more than $1,000. BowTiedIguana recalled that the former FTX CEO took control of the wallet that previously belonged to Sushiswap exchange founder Chef Nomi.
This address received more than 100 deposits totaling $367,000 from 32 addresses linked to Alameda Research, with a further $322,000 coming from other wallets. A total of 570 ether (worth $680,773 at press time) was sent to a centralized no-KYC crypto exchange in Seychelles and to the crypto bridge RenBridge, the Defi analyst noted. The blockchain sleuth further suggested lawyers from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should look into the matter, as SBF’s actions at the moment suggest he could be planning to jump bail and therefore not answer to the charges that he was the mastermind behind the fraud and unlawful transfer of customer funds inside his former crypto empire.
The alleged SBF transactions come roughly a week after he was released by United States officials on a $250 million bail. Bankman-Fried had been extradited from the Bahamas, where he spent several days behind bars before being moved to the U.S. The former crypto poster child had in the recent past claimed he now had only $100,000 in his bank account and just one ATM card after the FTX implosion wiped out his multi-billion dollar net worth.
Bahamas Regulators Confirm They Have $3.5B In FTX Customer Funds
In related news, the Bahamian Securities Commission has officially confirmed it still holds $3.5 billion worth of FTX deposits, which it took possession of on November 12, soon after the now-defunct exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The commission indicated assets would remain held in its digital wallets until the Bahamas Supreme Court directs them to distribute these to the customers and creditors or they receive guidance about how the company’s insolvency is to be addressed.
According to the Commission, FTX co-creators Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang no longer have access to the transferred $3.5 billion in tokens.
