• Three wallets converted 63,860 staked Ethereum (stETH) — roughly $90 million — to Ethereum (ETH) when the stETH/ETH peg dropped to a monthly low between May 2022 and June 2022.
• Blockchain security firm PeckShield identified the wallets and said they might be connected to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).
• A director at Coinbase, Conor Grogan, tweeted that two wallets withdrew over $75 million stETH from FTX on June 8, 2022, and sold everything on the market.
At the height of the market depeg between May and June 2022, three wallets related to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) swapped a staggering $90 million of staked Ethereum (stETH) for Ethereum (ETH). Blockchain security firm PeckShield identified the wallets and said their transactions might be connected to SBF.
When stETH/ETH dropped to $0.971 on May 13, 2022, „0x6b92“ withdrew 15,000 stETH — worth $23.4 million — from FTX, swapped it for 14,300 ETH, and transferred it to FTX. This was followed by two other wallets, „0x1b23“ and „0x2e85“, who cumulatively withdrew 49,000 stETH worth $66 million from FTX, swapped them for 42,000 ETH, and returned the funds to FTX.
The previously unknown wallets became public after they sent ETH and stETH to the bankrupt FTX’s estate this January. A director at Coinbase, Conor Grogan, also tweeted that two wallets withdrew over $75 million stETH from FTX on June 8, 2022, and sold everything on the market. This move triggered a series of events that eventually affected bankrupt crypto lender Celsius and crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, according to Grogan.
These transactions demonstrate how much influence one individual or entity can have on the cryptocurrency markets. It is important for traders to be aware of such manipulative practices, and to always do their own research before investing in any digital asset.