Investing in Top Web 3.0 Blockchain Projects with Solana

FTX Estate’s Massive Staking of Solana (SOL)

On October 13th, the FTX estate made a notable move by staking over 5.5 million SOL tokens, worth roughly $122 million, into Figment, a staking validator firm for institutional investors. This transaction was detected by blockchain tracker Whale Alert and later identified as an FTX estate address by pseudonymous on-chain researcher Ashpool.

Staking is a process that involves locking up a certain amount of coins for a predetermined period of time. In return, staking holders are rewarded with SOL coins for their contribution to securing the network. FTX was an early investor in Solana and has been regularly receiving a sizable amount of SOL tokens according to the established vesting schedule.

The FTX estate, which is managed by a bankruptcy trustee, has the option of liquidating its holdings at any time. Its primary purpose is to recover assets for the exchange’s creditors.

Web 3.0 and FTX Bankruptcy

In September, a US court approved the sale of $1.3 billion worth of SOL tokens from FTX, causing worries among holders of the cryptocurrency about a drop in prices. To prevent further disruption to the crypto market, the court mandated that the sale be done in weekly installments through an investment advisor. This decision sent SOL’s value to a two-month low of $17.34 on 11th September.

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 crypto assets. According to court documents from September, more than $7 billion has been recovered since FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2022.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of FTX, is currently on trial in a Manhattan district court, where he is accused of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. If found guilty, he could face up to 115 years in prison.