Over the last few hours, unusual activity associated with Alameda Ethereum (ETH) addresses has been detected by data analytics firm Nansen.
Crypto sleuths have noticed that numerous tokens on the ETH blockchain are being consolidated into two main wallets before being swapped to ETH and USDT, and then sent to multiple wallets using mixers FixedFloat and ChangeNow. The last detail suggests that the transfers are unlikely to be related to liquidators.
Leigh Drogen, a market observer, has floated a theory that Bankman-Fried could be attempting to use stolen money to trade for leniency in prosecution, with him holding private keys hostage and therefore avoiding sending money into stablecoins (where it may be frozen).
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reacted to the news with a "!" in a tweet without further comment.
U.S. authorities have accused Bankman-Fried of potentially perpetrating what has been described as "one of the biggest financial scams in American history" in relation to his defunct cryptocurrency trading platform. He is suspected of diverting funds obtained from clients and using them for various investment vehicles, including sister trading firm Alameda.
As reported by U.Today, Bankman-Fried recently agreed to be extradited to the U.S. and was permitted to get out of federal custody. The court put in place incredibly stringent bail conditions, which include a $250 million bond that is backed up by his parents' home in California.