The FTX estate seems bullish on Solana (SOL), as it staked over 5.5 million SOL on Oct. 13. According to on-chain data, an FTX-identified wallet sent the coins to Figment, a staking validator firm for institutional investors.
The transaction was detected by blockchain tracker Whale Alert and later identified as an FTX estate address by pseudonymous on-chain researcher Ashpool. The coins staked are worth $122 million and represent a small fraction of FTX’s holdings of SOL.
Staking involves locking up a specific amount of coins for a set period. Staking holders receive SOL coins rewards for securing the network with their stakes.
FTX was an early investor in Solana and regularly receives a significant volume of SOL unlocked according to the established vesting schedule. The FTX estate, which is overseen by a bankruptcy trustee, has the option of liquidating these holdings at any time. Its primary role involves the recovery of assets to the exchange’s creditors.
FTX estate is staking 5.5M SOLhttps://t.co/ajRgBHFNt9 https://t.co/UGorSGMtwC
— ashpool (@solanobahn) October 14, 2023
In September, a United States court approved the sale of $1.3 billion in SOL from FTX, causing concerns among holders about a slump in prices. To avoid adding burdens on the crypto market, the bankruptcy court demanded the sale occur through an investment adviser in weekly batches. The decision drove SOL’s price to a two-month low of $17.34 on Sept. 11.
FTX holds $3.4 billion in Digital Assets A, which is among the top 10 assets the company holds, including Solana, Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Aptos (APT) and other cryptocurrencies. According to court filings from September, over $7 billion has been recovered since the exchange filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2022.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of FTX, is currently on trial at a district court in Manhattan, where he is accused of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. If found guilty, he could serve up to 115 years in prison.
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