FTX Moves $15M in Crypto to Wintermute, Raising Eyebrows

FTX transferred 470k SOL tokens worth $15 million from a cold wallet to Wintermute.
The transfers also included ETH, MKR, LINK, AAVE, COMP, and RNDN, totaling over $10.49 million.
The deposits seem to coincide with the recent price surge of cryptocurrencies, including SOL.

According to a PeckShieldAlert report from October 26, a staggering 470k Solana (SOL) tokens worth $15 million were recently moved from an FTX cold storage-labeled account on Solana. Some proceeds were transferred to controlled exchanges (CEX), including Coinbase and Binance.

Here are the details.

Understanding FTX’s Transfers

As of this writing, the only cryptocurrency payments made to Wintermute Trading were from addresses connected to FTX, totaling over $10.49 million. Most of the money was sent to Wintermute’s deposit addresses using controlled exchanges like Binance and Coinbase. Cryptocurrencies like ETH, MKR, LINK, AAVE, COMP, and RNDN were transferred.

The deposits seem to align with the recent price surge witnessed by cryptocurrencies such as ETH, SOL, LINK, and AAVE, among others, with SOL witnessing a staggering 5.55% in the last 24 hours.

Furthermore, a different Ethereum address associated with FTX cold storage recently sent $2.5 million in cryptocurrency, including $RNDN and $COMP, to Wintermute. This well-known international algorithmic trading company deals in digital assets.

Also Read: FTX Stages Comeback in 2023: Will It Be a Success?

FTX is Resuming Its Crypto Business

The previous year, FTX filed for bankruptcy because of a liquidity issue with its token, FTT, which stirred the cryptocurrency community.

After a string of fraudulent transactions caused FTX, which is now a bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, to fail, the company claimed it moved all of the remaining money to cold wallets to reduce damages. The company made more progress after that, hoping the exchange would rebound.

John J. Ray III, the recently appointed CEO of FTX, announced earlier this year that the bankruptcy administrators had put up a fresh proposal to bring the exchange back to life. The exchange has made incremental progress and recently revealed that it intends to seek bids for its resuscitation, hoping to provide a firm proposal by December of this year.

Also Read: SBF Fraud Trial: How FTX Used Customer Funds to Reclaim Its Stake from Binance

What’s Next?

However, despite their efforts, FTX faced significant challenges rebuilding trust and attracting new users. The bankruptcy incident had tarnished their reputation, making it difficult to regain the confidence of investors and traders. Nevertheless, FTX remained determined to revive its crypto business and implemented stringent security measures to prevent future fraudulent activities.