FTX Unstakes Over 178,000 Solana Tokens Amid Bankruptcy Reorganization Approval

FTX continues its regular monthly Solana redemptions following a U.S. court’s approval of its reorganization plan.

Early on October 15, FTX’s staking address, linked to FTX/Alameda, redeemed 178,631 SOL tokens valued at over $128 million at current market prices.

This recent move continues a trend observed over the past few months, where similar-sized transactions occur between the 12th and 15th of each month. 

The SOL staking address of FTX/Alameda redeemed 178,631 SOL (US$28 million) today, most of which are expected to flow into Coinbase or Binance. The SOL of this address is redeemed and transferred out about 170k SOL on the 12th to 15th of each month. Currently, there are 7.09…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 15, 2024

These SOL redemptions are anticipated to find their way to major crypto exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance, especially after FTX’s reorganization plan gained approval.

Under this plan, over $14 billion is allocated to customer payouts. The reorganization plan’s implementation is likely to prompt further asset liquidations, including substantial Solana holdings.

Ongoing SOL Transfers and Market Impact

FTX and Alameda Research have been steadily offloading their SOL assets in recent months. As of September, the firm unstaked over 530,000 SOL, valued at approximately $71 million. These assets were redistributed across multiple addresses, with monthly SOL redemptions averaging around 176,700 tokens, valued at $23.5 million.

On one occasion, a single redemption amounted to 177,693 SOL worth $23.75 million. Despite these frequent transfers, FTX and Alameda retained a large stake of approximately 7.06 million SOL, worth around $945.7 million as of mid-September.

The potential for further liquidations has raised concerns among investors, as increased supply of SOL in the market could negatively affect its price. With FTX’s continued redemptions and the reorganization plan enabling asset redistribution, the cryptocurrency’s price may face downward pressure if substantial amounts of SOL are sold off in the coming months.

FTX’s Reorganization and Debt Repayments

The confirmation of FTX’s reorganization plan by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on October 7 marked a pivotal development for the collapsed exchange.

Under the approved plan, 98% of the company’s creditors by number will receive 119% of their allowed claims. This distribution, expected to occur within 60 days of the plan’s effective date, depends on compliance with know-your-customer (KYC) and other regulatory requirements.

FTX has projected that the total value of assets recovered will range between $14.7 billion and $16.5 billion. This sum includes assets controlled by the Chapter 11 Debtors and those under the Joint Official Liquidators of FTX Digital Markets, Ltd. (Bahamas) and FTX Australia.