Alameda Research Liquidated Ether-Based Token Holdings for Bitcoin in Past 24 Hours, On-Chain Data Shows

Several tokens held by Sam Bankman-Fried’s embattled trading unit Alameda Research were sold late on Wednesday to the tune of millions of dollars, as the the firm's founders face criminal charges related to the collapse of Alameda and FTX.

Onchain data cited by crypto research firm Arkham Intelligence suggested some $1.7 million worth of tokens from Alameda-linked wallets were sold in the open market over a span of several hours on Wednesday. The sales sparked concerns about sparking a steep fall in the prices of those tokens among some Crypto Twitter users.

On-chain data showed Ethereum-based tokens such as USD Coin (USDC), dai (DAI), curve (CRV), ether (ETH), convex (CVX) and others were consolidated from several wallets to just two wallets, and later sold for tether stablecoins (USDT).

The value of the transactions ranged from a fraction of ether to over 15 ether, the on-chain data shows. The holdings were then converted into bitcoin using swapping services like FixedFloat and ChangeNow, on-chain sleuth ZachXBT noted in a tweet.

The funds are being swapped for BTC

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bc1q7p22k0ly0pmy04ermzu76uyylveehu9cusrcnp pic.twitter.com/ueYLjQOalZ

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) December 28, 2022

As per Arkham Intelligence data, Alameda still holds over $112 million worth of various cryptocurrencies, down from $140 million held in mid-November, as CoinDesk previously reported.

FTX, a crypto exchange, filed for bankruptcy in November after revelations that Alameda, a hedge fund that Bankman-Fried also owned, was largely backed by FTT tokens, digital assets that FTX created out of thin air.