Bankrupt FTX Sends Millions in Stablecoins to Market Makers: Liquidity Play or Arbitrage?

• FTX transferred 105K USDC tokens to Wintermute via the Polygon network.
• Alameda Research transferred 2.3 million DAI to Wintermute via Avalanche.
• 47K DAI were sent to market maker Cumberland by Alameda Research.

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and its affiliated trading firm Alameda Research have transferred $2.5 million in stablecoins to crypto market makers Wintermute and Cumberland. Blockchain security platform PeckShield identified the transfers, which were executed using four different addresses and three blockchain networks.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), PeckShield stated that FTX and Alameda transferred 2.5 million DAI and USDC to the market makers. Specifically, an Alameda wallet transferred 2.3 million DAI to Wintermute via the Avalanche network, while another Alameda wallet sent 47,000 DAI to Cumberland via the Ethereum network.

Additionally, FTX transferred 94,000 USDC to Wintermute via the Polygon network, and another transfer of 11,000 USDC was made using the same network. These stablecoin transfers may have been intended to provide liquidity. Large market makers like Wintermute and Cumberland support trading volume by increasing liquidity in the markets. Entities can enter into agreements with Wintermute to provide liquidity and share in the profit that these platforms earn from market making.

Further, by sending stablecoins to these market-making platforms, FTX and Alameda can potentially participate in arbitrage strategies. Wintermute uses these stablecoins to take advantage of price discrepancies across different exchanges, and the resulting profits are shared with the stablecoin providers. Market makers actively buy and sell to ensure price stability and narrow spreads.

While the reason for sending the stablecoins remains unclear, FTX and Alameda have been actively offloading assets to repay their creditors. As previously reported, FTX has recovered close to $7.3 billion in liquid assets, including around $1.2 billion in cash. The bankrupt firm is set to begin repaying creditors and customers in cash, not crypto, based on the value of their holdings in 2022, when the exchange collapsed.The $7.3 billion was recovered through the sale of stake in artificial intelligence startups , in Robinhood, and the sale of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Bahamas penthouse , among other assets. Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is currently incarcerated, serving a 25-year sentence.