Experts link Sam Bankman-Fried to BALD meme token project

The BALD meme-token project is likely led by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) or someone from the Alameda Research team. This conclusion was reached by CEHV fund partner Adam Cochran and other experts.

The expert noted that one of the addresses involved in withdrawals from the BALD pool also voted on SushiSwap proposals. He marked it as Alameda Research.

Cochran did not rule out that the trading firm launched other meme tokens.

The expert estimated a 90% probability of his claim that SBF or an associate such as Nishad Singh was involved in the BALD affair.

He cited almost instantaneous actions by SBF in the context of voting and the small number of holders of governance tokens at the time of Nomi’s departure.

SBF is credited with the ‘rescue’ of the project after the founder ceased to exercise his authority.

“All the other major players of that era, as far as I can recall, were not rushing to vote. And they wouldn’t have as many assets as FTX, or they wouldn’t be the ones taking on-chain actions,” — said the expert.

The expert backed his version by the recent scandal surrounding the transfer of confidential information by SBF concerning former Alameda Research head Caroline Ellison. Earlier a court limited Bankman-Fried’s internet use.

The view was echoed by an analyst using the pseudonym hype_eth.

The expert noted that BALD’s creator’s publications contain the same distinctive phrases and tones used by SBF. The developer also actively voted on SushiSwap proposals and was an active ‘farmer’ on dYdX.

hype_eth also noted that the timing of on-chain activity coincides with court dates, bail postings, and Bankman-Fried’s use of a VPN service.

The analyst also linked the BALD developer’s address to transactions that led to UST depeg. Subsequently, he interacted with Alameda and the blacklisted USDT. Additionally, hype_eth noticed a wordplay with Bald in Serum’s official X account, which actively promoted SBF.

Wintermute’s head of research, Igor Igamberdiev, acknowledged a link between BALD and Alameda Research, but doubted that the address belonged to SBF. In his view, it is more likely that it’s “definitely someone from Alameda”.

“Given the track record and the lack of contacts with other players (even 3AC interacted with BlockFi, Genesis, etc.), we can point to someone from Alameda. And let’s try to answer perhaps the most important question: SBF or the former CEO Sam Trabukko?”, the specialist suggested.

The BALD hype led to an asset rally over two days of almost 40,000%, to $0.085. Later, The Bald token team removed most of its liquidity on LeetSwap, withdrawing 7,000 ETH and 142 million BALD. The asset’s price fell sharply by 90% — to $0.015.

Earlier, LeetSwap announced a suspension of operations amid concerns about a possible hack.