FTX estate stakes $122 million of Solana, on-chain data shows

Earlier today, the FTX estate staked over 5.5 million Solana (SOL) coins, valued at $122 million, from one of its principal wallets on the Solana blockchain, according to on-chain data from SolanaFM.

One of the wallet addresses identified as managed by the FTX estate delegated the coins with Figment, one of the network validators for staking, as first noted by on-chain analyst ‘ashpool’ on X.

Managed by a bankruptcy trustee, the FTX estate includes the exchange’s assets and liabilities at the time of its bankruptcy filing. The trustee is responsible for asset recovery and distribution to creditors.

A substantial amount of SOL earmarked to the FTX estate unlocks every month according to the vesting schedule, offering the possibility for the estate to sell them off if they want.

There have been previous concerns among crypto investors that the estate might liquidate its substantial Solana holdings, particularly the coins becoming unlocked, which could impact the asset’s market value. However, the latest action by the FTX estate counters those concerns.

This graph shows a big increase in staked Solana on October 14. Source: Gelato.sh.

According to a court filing dated September 11, 2023, the FTX estate disclosed that it has recovered approximately $7 billion in assets.

These assets include over $1 billion in largely staked Solana (SOL) tokens and $560 million in Bitcoin (BTC), classified as liquid crypto assets for the firm. Additionally, the estate reported $200 million in real estate holdings in the Bahamas and $1.9 billion in illiquid assets.

The former CEO of the collapsed exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, is currently facing a lawsuit trial on fraud charges.