FTX and its sister company, Alameda Research, are once again making headlines. In a surprising development, cold wallets linked to FTX and Alameda Research have recently staked $125 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL). Even though the companies still owe billions to their customers.
According to Arkham Intelligence data, FTX’s cold storage wallet staked about $45 million in SOL tokens, while Alameda transferred $80 million worth of ETH to the staking service Figment. These actions happened just hours ago, on July 30, 2025, and are confirmed as successful transactions on the Solana blockchain.
Background: FTX’s Fall and Repayment Plan
Critics are asking that this $125 million shouldn’t be returned to customers, but instead be locked up in staking.
FTX and Alameda went down in November 2022, following disclosures that customer assets were being abused. Alameda, also owned and managed by FTX’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried, had allegedly deployed billions of customer assets in risky trades.
This set off one of the biggest crypto scandals ever, and it resulted in bankruptcy filings and a criminal trial. Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted in late 2023 and sentenced in 2024.
Since then, FTX has been working under bankruptcy court supervision to repay creditors. So far, they have returned about $6.2 billion, $1.2 billion in February, and $5 billion in May. A third distribution is planned for September 30, 2025, with August 15 set as the cutoff date for eligible claims. The total repayments could reach $14.7 billion to $16.5 billion, depending on final valuations.
With billions of customer funds yet to be repaid, any action, such as staking massive amounts of ETH or SO, is cause for concern. While it might serve to create passive income, the timing and clarity are in question. Many still wonder if tying up funds this close to a distribution date is equitable to those yet to receive.
Also Read: From $1M to $3.59B: SBF’s SUI Deal That Could Have Saved FTX
