FTX/crypto
Sam Bankman-Fried co-founded Alameda Research, a hedge fund and sister company of FTX. AFP

KEY POINTS

  • $ANT holders have until Saturday to redeem their tokens for Ethereum
  • The U.S. government-linked wallet still has over $920,000 in various tokens
  • Alameda Research is FTX's sister company that also crumbled when FTX collapsed

A digital wallet linked to the U.S. government that held assets seized from defunct hedge fund Alameda Research sold thousands of ANT tokens for Ethereum (ETH) ahead of the redemption deadline set by AragonDAO.

Data from leading blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence shows that on Thursday, the wallet sold over 82,000 of the AragonDAO's governance token for conversion to Ether through AragonDAO's token redemption process.

Just In Time Before Redemption Deadline

The conversion was made before AragonDAO's deadline for users to redeem ANT tokens, a year after the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) announced that it was winding down. Users have until Saturday to exchange their tokens.

The Aragon Association (AA), which is the legal steward of the Aragon treasury and assets, announced on Nov. 2, 2023, that it will dissolve the DAO and allow ANT holders to redeem their ANT for Ether.

"This decision could not be put to a public vote due to legal constraints, specifically regulatory risks triggered by token speculation and market manipulation," the team said at the time.

What's Left in the USG Wallet?

Aside from the converted ETH tokens worth over $524,000 as of early Friday, the wallet still holds various other digital assets, including over $200,000 worth of iExec RLC tokens and more than $50,000 in Numeraire (NMR).

In total, the wallet has more than $920,000, a fraction of the billions wiped out from the cryptocurrency industry when Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX collapsed, triggering the fall of Alameda Research and other crypto firms with exposure to the former popular exchange.

FTX, Alameda Aftermath Saga Continues

Even with SBF and former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison behind bars for their roles in the shocking demise of the once-beloved crypto exchange, the fight to claim FTX's remaining assets ensues.

It's also been two years since FTX crumbled along with Alameda, but the remnants of stealing from FTX customer funds, engaging in risky business practices, mismanagement, and other missteps linger.

The FTX estate's bankruptcy plan that seeks to repay customers up to $16.5 billion in assets recovered since November 2022 has been approved, but it will take some time before all investor-victims are repaid.

Just this week, the estate reached a $228 million settlement with crypto exchange Bybit and its investment arm, Mirana, to allow FTX to recover assets for its long list of creditors. The deal has yet to be heard for a final hearing later this month, which will put an end to the intense legal dispute initiated by the FTX estate a year ago. At the time, the estate initially sought $1 billion.

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