Yesterday, FTX bankruptcy teams moved $8.6 million worth of cryptocurrencies to the Binance exchange. How do we explain this move and what can we expect?
Why did FTX move millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies?
The move was spotted by blockchain analytics firm Nansen, during the day yesterday. Funds belonging to Alameda Research and FTX are said to have been moved. The cryptocurrencies affected are Ethereum’s ETH, Chainlink’s LINK, Aave’s AAVE, and Maker’s MKR :
FTX and Alameda funds are on the move!
– 2.2M USD LINK
– 1M USD AAVE
– 2M USD MKR
– 3.4M USD ETHThese funds moved to 0xde9 then 0xaee which is a Binance address
We don’t track offchain movements, but presumably, this is to either sell or to prepare to sell these funds pic.twitter.com/n6jfyghDmk
– Nansen (@nansen_ai) October 25, 2023
Nansen assumes it’s about selling these funds, or at least preparing to sell them. Remember that the cryptocurrency market has just experienced a nice “pump”, with ETH posting +20% for the week. Selling these crypto-currencies could therefore bring a better price than before.
As a reminder, U.S. government-led teams have been set up to manage the FTX bankruptcy process. The new CEO, John Ray III, communicates regularly on the progress of the process. One of the challenges is, of course, to recover as much money as possible, in order to compensate injured customers.
A decision to come regarding the relaunch of the exchange platform
We also learned this week that several potential investors were lurking around FTX, with the idea of buying the platform, or at least participating in its relaunch. For the moment, the teams managing the company have not come to a decision. However, they will be proposing a plan by December.
FTX could be bought out and integrated into another platform, or relaunched under its own name to continue offering services to users. Its substantial customer list – over 9 million – is a real asset in a highly competitive market.
With Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial underway, and the ex-CEO facing up to a hundred years in prison, he could see what was once his platform relaunch, against the odds. The incredible affair is far from over
