Deribit Transfers 10,000 Ethereum to FTX Trading Arm, Raising Concerns

The latest Ethereum (ETH) transfers from Deribit to Alameda Research occurred today, involving 2,000 ETH.

Bankrupt firm Alameda Research,  the trading arm of the FTX exchange, has been receiving persistent transfers from Panama-based cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Deribit since December 10. Deribit had begun sending 2,000 ETH to Alameda in a series of five even transactions a month after FTX and Alameda filed for bankruptcy.

The latest of the series of transactions occurred today, bringing the total amount to 10,000 ETH valued at $12M against prevailing rates, data from Etherscan reveals. The transfers were made from the address labeled Deribit 9, showing affiliation to the derivatives exchange. The five transactions occurred in 11 days, leaving the Alameda Research address with an Ether balance of 12,812 ETH ($15.5M) as of press time.

The development was recently highlighted by blockchain security platform PeckShield through its official Twitter handle. So far, it has raised several questions from the broader cryptocurrency community, especially considering Alameda Research and FTX’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and Deribit’s previous comments on its relationship with Alameda.

#PeckShieldAlert Deribit 9-labeled address has transferred 2,000 $ETH ($2,428,960.00) to Alameda-labeled address
Wondering why Deribit 9 transferred 10k $ETH (~$12M) to Alameda-labeled address within the last 10 days pic.twitter.com/dVp0lfHB7a

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) December 21, 2022

Recall that Deribit revealed on November 9 that it did not have any exposure to Alameda Research at the beginning of the FTX saga. According to the November 9 tweet from the options exchange platform, it does not rely on Alameda’s liquidity provision for any products it manages.

“Furthermore Deribit or group companies do not have assets with FTX or other exposure to e.g. FTT or SOL,” the tweet added, with the exchange promising to provide a Merkle Tree Proof of Reserve report for the assets held in its reserves, as had become the tradition with centralized exchanges.

Meanwhile, amid the bankruptcy proceedings, Alameda’s venture capital arm’s portfolio was released early this month, showing investments in multiple entities, several of which do not operate within the cryptocurrency scene. The Alameda portfolio revealed almost 500 investments across up to 10 holding firms to $5.4 billion. Some firms include Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Boring Company and Skybridge Capital.

The relationship between Deribit and Alameda remains unknown at the time of reporting, contributing to the concerns raised by the recent transfers. Notwithstanding, Galaxy’s Mike Novogratz had previously quelled investors’ fears of another insolvency, noting that not all exchanges are run like FTX.