Alameda-related addresses used various crypto mixers to hide transaction traces.
The wallets related to Alameda Research, a now-bankrupt crypto trading platform established by Sam Bankman-Fried, swapped and mixed over $1.7 million worth of cryptocurrency.
On December 28th, 30 crypto wallets tied to Alameda Research became active after almost four weeks of inactivity. The wallets used various crypto-mixing services to conceal the transaction paths.
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According to a Twitter thread shared by the crypto forensic group Arkham on December 28th, multiple Alameda-related addresses started swapping tokens for Ether (ETH) or Tether (USDT).
Arkham claims that swapped tokens were sent to crypto mixers, mainly by two wallets, starting with 0x971 and 0xe5D.
In one instance provided as an example by Arkham, from one wallet starting with 0x738, tokens were sent directly to another address starting with 0x64e. From there, funds were distributed into smaller wallets, in chunks worth around $50,000 and $200,000. Those funds were transferred to crypto mixers, like Fixedfloat and ChangeNOW.
Arkham stated that both above-mentioned addresses sent funds to ChangeNOW. 0x738 allegedly sent 50 ETH (worth around $60,000), while 0x64e sent 220.5 ETH (worth around $265,000) in several transactions.
On the other hand, stablecoins were swapped into Tether (USDT) and sent to a crypto mixing service dubbed Fixedfloat. The crypto forensic group claims that 800,000 USDT were mixed using Fixedfloat, while 600,000 stablecoins were mixed using other methods.
At the end of its Twitter thread, Arkham stated:
If this was a rogue employee or some kind of breach, it was rather extensive. Arkham can count at least 30 known Alameda addresses that were actively sending funds in the past 24 hours. Directly sending funds to mixing services is never a good sign.
The crypto community is questioning a sudden “wake up” of Alameda-related crypto wallets, claiming that it may be related to Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail release.
