On Thursday, blockchain analysts disclosed that wallets linked to the sister trading firm of FTX, Alameda Research, continued to move their crypto holdings and were obscuring transactions via coin mixers.
On Wednesday, it was noted that the wallets in question were swapping obscure tokens for the two largest cryptocurrencies in terms of market cap i.e. Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as stablecoin Tether (USDT).
Arkham Intelligence Data disclosed that almost $1.7 million worth of crypto transactions had been carried out.
New transactions
It appears that now cryptocurrencies are being put through coin mixers, which are apps that are specially designed to obscure the origin of crypto transactions and anonymize them.
This attempt to obscure the origin of the tokens continued on Thursday. ZachXBT, a blockchain sleuth, said that Wasabi had been used for depositing the BTC tokens.
This wallet is known for grouping together bitcoin transactions, which can help in concealing their origins.
It was not immediately clear as to who was conducting the transactions, but ZachXBT had said that it was highly unlikely that a liquidator would make use of tools, such as FixedFloat and ChangeNow for transferring and exchanging tokens.
The fiasco
Alameda Research was also founded by the disgraced co-founder of the FTX crypto exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried.
The crypto entrepreneur is under house arrest for now, after he was extradited to the US from the Bahamas last week, where he had been arrested and spent a few days in prison.
The former FTX CEO is now facing eight criminal charges after his empire came tumbling down last month, which include wire fraud and money laundering.
Charges have also been filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against the FTX co-founder, while a lawsuit has been filed against him and his companies by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
According to allegations, Bankman-Fried used customer deposits made on the FTX crypto exchange for making risky bets via Alameda Research.
Ultimately, he was not able to cover the bets and this resulted in bankruptcy, which saw the funds of millions of investors vanish into thin air.
Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, revealed to a judge that she had participated in the schemes of SBF, even though she was aware it was wrong and illegal.
Crypto funds
Since the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange back in November, there have been a number of mysterious movements of funds associated with it.
On the same night that it filed for bankruptcy, the exchange saw digital assets worth hundreds of millions flow out.
To this day, it is unclear as to who was behind those transactions, but the counsel of the new management at FTX, James Bromley stated that a substantial amount of the assets of the exchange had been stolen, or were missing.
According to a report this week, an investigation has been launched by the US Department of Justice to find out exactly what happened to the funds and who moved them.