Blockchain data suggests Sam Bankman-Fried, former founder of crypto exchange FTX, made large crypto trades after being released on bail. Despite being under house arrest, SBF allegedly sent $684,000 to a Seychelles crypto exchange, reported DeFi analyst BowTiedIguana.
Flagrant breach of bail conditions
On December 29, BowTiedIguana tweeted about a series of secret transactions from crypto wallets allegedly linked to SBF, suggesting that the former FTX CEO breached the terms of his bail. He is allowed to spend a maximum of 1000 US dollars per day.
Apparently a large amount of ether was transferred from the wallet address owned by SBF to a newly created address (0x7386d) originally owned by the creator of Sushiswap, Chef Nomi. Within hours, the new address received transfers totaling $367,000 in ether from 32 addresses identified as belonging to Alameda Research. According to the analyst, all funds were sent to RenBridge and a Seychelles-based crypto exchange.
BowTiedIguana asked the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to look into the matter, writing on Twitter:
Not everyone agrees that this was a breach of bail conditions as the money already belonged to SBF and the restrictions are just spending. Additionally, there has been speculation that it’s not SBF, but Chef Nomi – the pseudonymous co-founder of Sushiswap. According to Coinbase Chief Strategy Officer Conor Grogan, a large number of recent SBF transactions were related to early Sushiswap activities. He said:
In 2020, SBF denied having anything to do with Sushiswap.
Breach could cost SBF $250 million
The transactions, which are believed to be related to SBF, took place about a week after his provisional release. A record $250 million bond was posted, but the former FTX boss didn’t have to pay anything. Instead, bail was secured by the value of the house owned by his parents. Previously, SBF claimed that after FTX went bankrupt, it was left with only $100,000.
Recently, the Bahamian government announced that it had confiscated $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrencies from FTX. The move was reportedly taken to avoid the risk of funds disappearing after SBF warned of cyberattacks on its exchange in mid-November.
investigate the authorities
According to Bloomberg, US authorities are already investigating the reports and shedding light on suspicious transactions. Sam Bankman-Fried himself denied the allegations on Twitter.
SBF will appear in court for the first time later today. He is expected to plead not guilty.