Alameda Research withdrew $204 million before filing for bankruptcy

Alameda Research withdrew more than $200 million from FTX. The U.S. before it filed for bankruptcy, according to analysis from blockchain firm Arkham Intelligence revealed on Nov. 25.

In a thread on Twitter, Arkham revealed that Alameda Research, FTX’s sister company, withdrew $204 million from eight different FTX US addresses using a variety of crypto assets, the majority of which were stablecoins, in the final days before the collapse.

Arkham analysed flows from FTX US in the final few days before the collapse, finding that Alameda withdrew the most funds, at $204M.

Below is a diagram of withdrawals to Arkham-identified entities from FTX US. n.b. this thread regards FTX US assets only, not FTX International. pic.twitter.com/QFPVlVIWhO — Arkham | Crypto Intelligence (@ArkhamIntel) November 25, 2022

Of the withdrawals, $116 million, or 57.1%, were stablecoins pegged to U.S. dollars, including Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD), and TrueUSD (TUSD). Arkham’s analysis also indicates that $49.49 million (24.2%) is in Ether (ETH) and $38.06 million, or 18.7%, is Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC)

See also:

• FTX indirectly owns shares of a U.S. bank
• Large number of FTX assets mysteriously missing

“The withdrawn WBTC was sent to the Alameda WBTC Merchant wallet, which was then fully swapped for BTC,” Arkham said, adding that of the $204 million transferred, $142.4 million, or 69%, was sent to wallets owned by FTX International, “suggesting that Alameda may have acted as a bridge between the two entities.”

Of the Ether transferred, $35.52 million was sent to FTX and $13.87 million was sent to a large active trading wallet. The company noted that “it is unclear whether nearly 14 million ETH was sent to 0xa20 as part of the transaction or as Alameda’s internal remittances.”

Another $10.4 million was sent to rival cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

In his first bankruptcy filing with the Bankruptcy Court in the United States, FTX’s new CEO, John Ray III, described the situation as the worst he had ever seen in his corporate career, emphasizing the “complete failure of corporate controls” and the absence of reliable financial information.

About 130 companies in the FTX Group — including FTX Trading, FTX US, West Realm Shires Services and Alameda Research — filed for bankruptcy in the United States on Nov. 11.