According to the FTX founder’s affidavit, Alameda funded the purchase of Robinhood shares, which were later used as collateral to secure a loan from BlockFi.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, borrowed $546 million from the exchange’s sister firm Alameda Research to buy Robinhood stock.
Those same shares were later used as collateral by Bankman-Fried for a loan obtained by Alameda from BlockFi, one of the entities laying claim to the shares.
An affidavit filed by Bankman-Fried in the Antigua and Barbuda High Court on the day of his arrest, Dec. 12, and made public on Dec. 27, revealed that he and FTX co-founder Zixiao “Gary” Wang obtained the loans from Alameda via four promissory notes between April and May.
Bankman-Fried and Wang received loans of approximately $316.6 million and $35.1 million on April 30. Bankman-Fried received two loans totaling approximately $175 million and $19.4 million on May 15.
The loans were used to fund Bankman-Antiguan-based Fried’s shell company, Emergent Fidelity Technologies Ltd., which in May purchased a 7.6% stake in brokerage firm Robinhood for $648 million.
He added that if Emergent paid more than the stated $546 million for the shares, he has “no [sic] doubt that such additional sum was borrowed by Gary and I” to fund the acquisition of the Robinhood shares.
The loans’ disclosure could complicate the ongoing legal battle over the over 56 million Robinhood shares, which are now worth around $430 million.
BlockFi, the embattled cryptocurrency lender, is suing Bankman-Emergent Fried’s for the Robinhood shares, which were allegedly pledged as collateral for BlockFi’s loans to Alameda on November 9.
