CoinMetrics R&D Director: Alameda once relied on loans from FTX to avoid bankruptcy, which may have been the trigger for the incident

ChainCatcher news, Lucas Nuzzi, head of research at CoinMetrics, disclosed on social media that Alameda was on the brink of bankruptcy in the second quarter of this year, later obtaining loans secured by FTT as collateral, which may have triggered the liquidity crunch at FTX.

Lucas Nuzzi speculated that crypto investment firms like Three Arrows Capital faced significant losses in the second quarter of this year, and the reason Alameda survived was that it secured FTX funds based on FTT as "collateral," totaling 172 million FTT, worth approximately $4.19 billion. This "loan" needed to be repaid within four months, and if not repaid, all FTT would be liquidated, so SBF and Alameda had to find a way to avoid this situation.

However, rescuing Alameda could weaken FTX's balance sheet, making it insolvent. If the price of FTT did not collapse and trigger a bank run, everything would be fine, which is also why SBF has been shaping his image as "having enough funds and being friendly to politicians" recently. But Binance may have discovered that FTX was using FTT as collateral to support Alameda, and thus chose to sell off FTT, forcing FTX to face liquidity issues.

The above statements are Lucas Nuzzi's personal opinions and speculations. (source link)