SBF allegedly moves $684,000 into Seychelles exchange, RenBridge

On-chain data suggests the fallen founder of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) moved Ethereum (ETH) worth $684,000 to RenBridge and Seychelles-based exchanges over the past 2 days. 

In a Twitter thread, on-chain sleuth BowTiedlguana claimed that SBF transferred $684,000 worth of Ethereum (ETH) to a Seychelles-based exchange and RenBridge.

BowTiedlguana suggested that these transactions allegedly carried out by SBF could be a violation of his bail terms. As per the terms of SBF’s $250 million bail, the disgraced former crypto mogul is restricted from conducting transactions above $1,000 without court approval.

On Dec. 28, SBF allegedly emptied his public wallet by sending 0.6659 ETH, worth around $806.51 at the time, to a newly created address, as per Etherscan data.

This newly created address received around 185.1928 ETH from wallets tagged as Alameda Research within a few hours, on-chain data shows. Now-defunct hedge fund Alameda Research was owned by SBF and filed for bankruptcy along with FTX on Nov. 11. Additionally, the new wallet received 384.95 ETH, worth around $458,348, from various wallets.

From the new wallet 519.95 ETH was transferred to an address that also received funds from Alameda Research wallets, as per on-chain data from Etherscan. This third wallet then sent funds to a centralized exchange in Seychelles by routing the transactions via different wallets, BowTiedlguana claimed. Part of the funds was also sent to the Bitcoin network via the RenBridge, which was funded by Alameda Research.

Furthermore, $200,000 worth of Tether (USDT) was allegedly transferred to FixedFloat exchange from the SBF-linked wallet, BowTiedlguana stated.

The transactions occurred weeks after SBF had claimed that he only had $100,000 in his account and was worried about how to pay his lawyers. The fallen crypto founder, whose net worth was written down to zero by Forbes during the week of Dec. 19, is expected to enter a plea bargain in the U.S. Southern District of New York.

Judge Ronnie Abrams, who was supposed to handle SBF’s criminal trial, stepped down on Dec. 23, citing a potential conflict of interest. Bill Clinton-appointed judge, Lewis Kaplan was subsequently assigned to SBF’s case on Dec. 27.

SBF faces several counts of wire fraud, money laundering, securities fraud, and commodities fraud charges from the Justice Department. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused SBF of “orchestrating a massive, years-long fraud” by rerouting billions of dollars of FTX user funds for personal gain.