FTX: US authorities to investigate Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto wallets

According to the latest reports, federal prosecutors are investigating a series of crypto-currency transactions that online analysts have linked to digital wallets associated with crypto-currency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried.

The amount of these funds has been estimated at more than $1 million by data tracker Arkham Intelligence. However, SBF has previously claimed that he only has $100,000 left in his bank account.

SBF’s crypto-currency wallets under scrutiny

Over the past few days, blockchain analysts have been tracking the movement of funds that appear to be tied to digital wallets associated with former FTX exchange CEO and his now-defunct hedge fund Alameda Research.

Bankman-Fried denied the accusations and said he was not the one making the trades in a tweet he sent Friday.

None of these are me. I’m not and couldn’t be moving any of those funds; I don’t have access to them anymore.https://t.co/5Gkin30Ny5

– SBF (@SBF_FTX) December 30, 2022

The crypto-currency community, meanwhile, continues to believe that SBF is fabricating facts. They also suspect the FTX founder of cashing in more than $684,000 on a crypto-currency exchange in the Seychelles while under house arrest in the United States.

Did disgraced crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried just cash out $684k to a crypto exchange in the Seychelles while under house arrest?

His release conditions are that he not spend more than $1,000 without permission from the court.

Let’s examine the evidence on chain 👇

– BowTiedIguana (@BowTiedIguana) December 30, 2022

The FTX Saga

Earlier this month, criminal charges were filed against Bankman-Fried for his role in the failure of FTX. Now, prosecutors in the Southern District of New York are trying to determine the mysterious transactions that have recently taken place and whether Bankman-Fried is simply redistributing his own assets or cashing them in without consent if he was behind the transactions.

Sam Bankman-Fried, also known by his initials SBF, was released on $250 million bail a week ago. The FTX founder cannot make financial transactions worth more than $1,000 without prior approval from authorities or a judge, except for payment of legal fees or costs. It is not known at this time whether he has violated these conditions.

On the other hand Sam Bankman-Fried has agreed to plead not guilty to criminal allegations in a Manhattan federal court on January 3, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan.