Alameda-Linked Addresses Begin Swapping Ethereum, ERC-20 Tokens for Bitcoin

Several wallets associated with Sam Bankman-Fried’s trading firm Alameda Research came to life late a few hours ago, swapping various cryptocurrencies.

Martin Lee, a data journalist at Nansen, was among the blockchain sleuths to point to “lots of activity going on among Alameda wallets” in the late hours on Tuesday evening, with various Ethereum-based tokens consolidated into two main wallets, which were later swapped for Ethereum (ETH) and Tether (USDT).

The transactions in question included 3,263 Convex Finance tokens (CVX) worth $11,390 sent from Convex Finance to an Alameda Research wallet.

These funds were then sent to a MetaMask wallet, along with 74,112 CRV, equivalent to $39,152, again sent from Alameda Research to a MetaMask wallet.

A third transfer of 45.6 ETH worth $55,219 was sent to an unknown address, with the funds further sent to instant exchange services ChangeNow and FixedFloat.

“Transactions seem odd to me. Consolidation makes sense, but after it's being consolidated, the funds get sent to fresh wallets before it gets sent to ChangeNow /FixedFloat,” added Lee.

Research firm OXT also noted that the way the funds have been swapped “rings some major alarm bells."

On-chain sleuth ZachXBT further revealed that the funds had been swapped for Bitcoin (BTC)

Who’s behind the Alameda transactions?

Commenting on suggestions that the transfers could have been initiated by FTX liquidators, ZachXBT sounded skeptical, saying it is unlikely that they would use services such as FixedFloat or ChangeNow.

Though it’s unclear at the moment who is responsible for the transactions, the timing comes just a few days after FTX founder Bankman-Fried—also known as SBF— was released on bail under a $250 million bond agreement.

The disgraced crypto mogul is now awaiting trial under house arrest at his parents' house in Palo Alto, California, with electronic location monitoring, as well as restrictions on spending, business activities, and firearms imposed under the terms of the release.

The court document doesn’t mention internet access restrictions for SBF.

SBF, who allegedly committed fraud by using customer funds to place bets via his trading house Alameda Research, is facing a total of eight criminal charges after being arrested in the Bahamas earlier this month.