Bankrupt Crypto Exchange FTX's Estate Suddenly Stakes Over $144 Million in Solana (SOL)

As the bankruptcy proceedings of the defunct crypto exchange FTX continue, the estate linked to the exchange has been observed staking more than $144 million worth of Solana (SOL), a notable competitor to Ethereum (ETH).

Per findings from the blockchain explorer SolanaFM, the address linked to FTX and its trading division Alameda Research has initiated a new stake, totaling 5,546,217.04 SOL tokens.

Analysis conducted by the pseudonymous on-chain researcher Ashpool suggests that FTX subsequently staked all these tokens through Figment, a digital asset staking service primarily designed for institutional clients. Notably, Figment is also utilized by major players like Robinhood, Binance.US, and Anchorage Digital for staking.

Staking on the Solana network currently offers an approximate annual percentage yield (APY) of 7%, contingent upon the chosen staking platform, with rewards distributed every two or three days.

The FTX estate already holds approximately $1 billion worth of Solana, but a significant portion of these holdings is subject to a vesting schedule agreement that locks them up until 2028.

In a recent statement, Solana co-creator Anatoly Yakovenko expressed his preference for distributing FTX's SOL tokens directly to the exchange's affected customers as part of a compensation plan. He remarked, "I would wish for the SOL to be distributed to all FTX customers directly. This approach, in my view, would be the least disruptive and most beneficial for all parties involved... Distributing it among 5 million users would contribute positively to the network's long-term health—a win-win, in my honest opinion... It seems like a faster and less legally complex process if everything was just evenly distributed among all users, allowing each user to decide how to manage their share.

Oct 17, 2023