The BALD token, which experienced an explosive surge of over 10,000% on the Coinbase-backed Base network before plummeting, triggered a storm of investigations on Twitter, with some analysts linking BALD to Alameda Research.
Igor Igamberdiev, Head of Research at Wintermute, has conducted an in-depth analysis of the BALD deployer.
No Coinbase link to BALD
According to Igamberdiev, this individual is “definitely someone from Alameda,” but not necessarily Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, the former CEO of FTX, who is currently under house arrest.
Based on his investigation, Igamberdiev believes that Sam Trabucco, the former Alameda CEO, is behind BALD, although he has “no hard evidence” at this point.
Igamberdiev’s analysis hinged on a deep dive into the transaction activities of the BALD deployer’s address and its connections to leading crypto exchanges.
The address, 0xccFa05, was initially suspected to be linked to Coinbase due to its position as a large holder on DeFi governance forums. However, further examination showed that the cbETH held by this address was not minted by Coinbase but instead purchased on Uniswap v3.
However, the address had sizeable funds and interacted predominantly with major exchanges such as Binance, FTX, and Coinbase.
Igamberdiev next identified an old wallet, 0x000f7f, that had exhibited substantial trading activity in 2019/2020, associated with Oasis DEX, 0x v2.1, dYdX v2, and Set Protocol, among other trading platforms.
This wallet also had significant interactions with offshore exchanges, with FTX and Alameda featuring prominently.
Despite the wallet’s extensive activities, it lacked large FTT transfers or funds received from a Centralized Exchange (CEX).
Sushiswap DAO voting
Adding to the intrigue, the old wallet was linked to an ex-top trader on dYdX v3 and was known to have voted for the first proposals on SushiSwap. The wallet also received POAP from the Yearn launch and used millions of USD to farm COMP, SUSHI, BDP, SWRV, CREAM, and STG.
Based on the wallet’s track record and its lack of interactions with other significant players such as 3AC, BlockFi, and Genesis (which would be expected for a wallet of this size), Igamberdiev concludes that the BALD deployer is likely to be aligned with Alameda.
Data Analyst Andrew T from Blockworks further indicated the connections of the BALD deployer’s ETH address to Binance and Alameda Research.
Fund Manager Adam Cochran suggested that the BALD developer could either be SBF or another Alameda person due to activity in the early voting on Sushi governance.
Ryan Sean Adams, the founder of Bankless, initially highlighted that SBF, currently on house arrest, might have launched the BALD scam stating,
“SBF the guy with the fake crypto exchange and responsible for one of the biggest frauds in history may have launched a $30m scam last weekend under a memecoin called BALD while on house arrest in his parents basement.”
However, he later amended his position, arguing that given his current legal situation, he would not be able to create a new coin, following a conversation with journalist Tiffany Fong who confirmed SBF does not have access to technology capable of releasing the BALD token.
“[SBF has] been on house arrest but his normal laptop/devices were taken away in April – he basically has a flip phone now & can use a laptop with restricted websites (eg NY T, WSJ) with his lawyers present he definitely isn’t making a shitcoin rn … just trying to counteract the conspiracy theories…”
As the crypto community continues to delve into this mystery, one thing remains clear: the investigations, debates, and discussions concerning the BALD coin and its deployer reflect the market’s continued vigilance and commitment to transparency.