Alameda's Shadow Over Bald Memecoin? Crypto Researcher Digs Out Possible Links But Rules Out SBF Connection

Igor Igamberdiev, the head of research at Wintermute — an algorithmic trading firm focused on innovative digital asset markets — has suggested a possible connection between the Bald BALD/USD memecoin and Alameda Research, a prominent cryptocurrency trading firm.

What Happened: Igamberdiev's analysis of blockchain data indicates that the person who launched the Bald memecoin could be associated with Alameda Research.

He started his investigation by looking at the person who launched the Bald memecoin.

His findings suggest this individual is likely connected to Alameda Research, but he couldn't confirm their identity.  

He also ruled out the possibility that the person is an insider at Coinbase COIN, even though their address is listed as the largest holder on DeFi governance forums.

This is because the person bought cbETH on Uniswap v3, a decentralized exchange, instead of creating it through Coinbase.

The researcher then traced the activities of the Bald memecoin launcher back to an older digital wallet that was very active in 2019 and 2020.

This wallet was used for trading on various decentralized exchanges and moved large amounts of money, mainly interacting with offshore exchanges, including FTX FTT/USD, which is linked to Alameda Research.

Further analysis of this old wallet revealed that it was connected to a top trader on dYdX v3, a decentralized exchange.

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This wallet also participated in voting on SushiSwap, received POAP from the Yearn launch, and used millions of dollars to farm various cryptocurrencies.

According to Igamberdiev, these activities suggest a connection to Alameda Research.

Igamberdiev also found that the timing of some activities from these addresses matched tweets from Sam Trabucco of Alameda.

For example, a tweet about the Stargate auction happened at the same time as activity from one of the addresses.

However, Igamberdiev believes that it's unlikely that Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX and co-founder of Alameda Research, is the person who launched the Bald memecoin.

He argues that Bankman-Fried wouldn't have been able to transfer over $40 million through Coinbase without proper identification and proof of funds.

Additionally, the auditors at FTX should have known about Bankman-Fried's address since the exchange and the OTC desk had transactions with it.

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