By James Davis
After several mysterious tokens swaps and fund transfers from wallets connected to the collapsed trading company Alameda Research, the firm’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried has come out to deny his role in those transactions.
On his Twitter handle, Bankman-Fried dismissed claims from media reports that suggest he is the mastermind behind the fund transfers. The former billionaire added that he no longer has access to the funds.
The denial was Bankman-Fried’s first tweet since his arrest on December 12th. He got extradited to the US a few days ago to face eight charges, including wire fraud and money laundering. Later on, the court granted his release after his parents collateralized his $250 appearance bond.
Bankman-Fried’s appearance bond is the biggest in American history. The disgraced billionaire flew to his parents’ Palo Alto home, where he is expected to be under house arrest. Meanwhile, a wall Street Journal reports that Bankman-Fried will plead not guilty to the charges next week.
Alameda Research Swaps Cryptocurrencies Worth $1.5 Million
Over $1.5 million in crypto held in wallets linked to Alameda Research was swapped via coin mixers and crypto exchanges. Usually, Coin mixers are used to keep private the movement of crypto between wallets, so it is unlikely that it’s the liquidators moving the funds as part of FTX bankruptcy proceedings.
In November, FTX filed for bankruptcy following liquidity issues after billions of investors’ funds reportedly went missing. It is alleged that Alameda Research took FTX users’ funds to cover its trading losses resulting from the crypto market crash in the summer.
As of Friday, funds were still moving, as noted by a Twitter user and Blockchain analyst (@ZaChXBT). According to ZachXBT, Alameda Research had transferred Bitcoin to Wasabi, a Bitcoin-centric wallet that hides the origins of this digital asset.
SBF Attacked Following His Denial Tweet
Even though it is unclear who is carrying out these fund transfers, several crypto enthusiasts suggest that it could be Bankman-Fried since he is at home and can access the internet. Furthermore, Bankman-Fried’s denial tweet attracted backlash as many called him a liar.