FTX Wallets Move Over $10M In Crypto To Wintermute; What's Going On?

Asset-receiving crypto wallet addresses linked to FTX and Alameda Research, the now-defunct businesses founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, made a surprising move this week when they moved over $10 million in crypto to Wintermute, a global algorithmic trading firm centered on cryptocurrencies.

The transactions, which took place Tuesday, were flagged by web3 data analysis and tracking account LookOnChain.

The total transfers amounted to more than $10.49 million, which include 2,904 ETH ($5.18 million), 1,341 MKR ($2.02 million), 198,000 LINK ( $2.26 million) and 12,000 AAVE ($1.03 million) that were moved to the deposit addresses of Wintermute on Binance and Coinbase.

Neither FTX nor Wintermute has said anything related to the transactions.

Wintermute gained a seat on the FTX creditors' committee last year, which enabled the crypto trading firm to help form decisions, along with entities from the U.S., Hong Kong and the Caribbean.

When FTX faced insolvency issues in early November, the crypto industry was in utter chaos, with the crypto derivatives exchange pushed to accept a non-binding acquisition offer from Binance, which eventually did not materialize.

When FTX suspended its withdrawals, some crypto businesses and major traders still had their assets on the exchange.

Following FTX's spectacular collapse in November, Wintermute, which helps offer liquidity to crypto exchange platforms, expected it could reduce its exposure to the bankrupt crypto business once insolvency concerns were raised.

At the time, Wintermute said it still had funds on FTX and explained its status in a lengthy tweet.

"We find the recent events around Alameda and FTX disappointing and unfortunate for the industry. Wintermute is committed to doing everything in our power to help the industry recover and come out stronger," the market maker tweeted. "As always, we are here providing liquidity to the markets, rain or shine. We continue our 24/7 trading activities across exchanges and OTC."

"In line with our strict risk controls, our exposure to any trading venue is limited and does not pose a major risk to our overall financial strength, obligations, or normal operations," it noted.

But it admitted that "following the initial concerns with FTX, we substantially further reduced our exposure to reflect the change in the associated risk."

"We do have remaining funds on FTX, and while this is not ideal, the amount is within our risk tolerances and does not have a significant impact on our overall financial position," it said while clarifying that "as a market neutral trading firm, we do not have any directional exposure to FTT tokens or related ecosystem assets."

There is a big chance that the transfers made by FTX and Alameda Research using their asset-receiving crypto wallets to Wintermute could be a form of payment.