FTX Continues Moving Solana to Exchanges Amid Price Manipulation Concerns

The bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has reportedly moved 250,000 Solana tokens (SOL) worth $10.83 million to Binance. 

As Solana became one of the outperformers of the current rally, there has been speculation about manipulation of its price. Meanwhile, FTX continues to move the tokens to the Binance crypto exchange.

FTX Executes Full-Fledged Offloading of Solana

On-chain insights platform Spot On Chain, shared on X (Twitter) that FTX has deposited 250,000 SOL tokens to Binance at the price of $43.32. 

The movement of assets to centralized exchange does not mean they would be sold immediately. However, sales is one of the primary purposes of transferring assets to centralized exchanges in most cases.

Spot on Chain further states that the bankrupt crypto company has so far sent 5.74 million SOL, approximately worth $223 million, to various centralized exchanges. Now, FTX holds 1.25 million Solana tokens with a valuation of $54.5 million.

Read more: 8 Best On-Chain Analysis Tools in 2023

FTX’s Solana Address. Source: Solscan

Apart from Solana, FTX has also been moving other assets to centralized exchanges. For instance, earlier this week, it got the court’s approval to sell $744 million worth of Grayscale and Bitwise Trust assets.

In August, FTX hired the digital asset management company Galaxy Digital as an advisor to help reduce its crypto exposure.

Chances of Price Manipulation?

SOL was one of the major holdings of the defunct crypto exchange FTX. Hence, the rally in price, coinciding with the FTX’s plans to offload the assets, raised speculations of price manipulations.

Renowned trader Neel Kukreti (Crypto Jargon) believes that the chances of price manipulations couldn’t be neglected. He told BeInCrypto:

“Price manipulation in the crypto market is a familiar occurrence, especially in the vicinity of significant selling events.

“Therefore, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were attempts to manipulate the price of SOL to facilitate more favorable sales for FTX.” 

To give a more comprehensive perspective, he shared examples of some other holdings of FTX that have outperformed the market since mid-October. For example, SOL rallied 110%, Ethereum Name Service (ENS) pumped 32%, Stepn (GMT) skyrocketed by 88%, Lido DAO (LDO) is up by 42%, Serum (SRM) rallied 41%, and lastly, Oxygen Protocol (OXY) doubled since mid-October.

FTX Holdings That Have Outperformed the Market Since Mid-October. Source: Charts shared by Neel Kukreti

Kukreti further says that while the price movement is suspicious, it mirrors the broader market trend. He elaborated:

“It’s worth noting that SOL’s recent price movement appears somewhat suspicious, but it’s essential to recognize that this trend mirrors the broader crypto market’s rally. 

“While it’s possible that SOL may have been nudged upward to some extent, it’s unlikely that price manipulation played a significant role. Nonetheless, the proximity of this rally to FTX’s potential selling activities raises legitimate concerns.”

Read more: What Is Solana (SOL)?

What is Solana? Source: YouTube

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