In late 2021, Deltec was well on its way to becoming one of the world’s most consequential crypto banks — but it needed money. An obscure Bahamian bank born from private wealth management, it had found a profitable, yet risky new role as the banker of choice for crypto giants. After signing on Tether, a wildly popular "asset-backed" stablecoin that had been dropped by traditional financiers, Deltec amassed a roster of white hot clients, among them the $32 billion crypto exchange FTX, then one of the largest.

Amid the dollar signs surrounding his new client, Deltec chairman Jean Chalopin saw an answer to his funding woes. In October 2021, he secured a $50 million loan from an entity connected to FTX through one of its executives; the entity’s ties to FTX and its loan to Deltec have not been previously reported.

In addition to the loan to Deltec in late 2021, Alameda invested $11.5 million into Moonstone Bank, a tiny Washington state bank owned by Chalopin through a holding company. In a December court filing, Bahamas liquidators revealed that Moonstone held nearly $50 million in FTX funds across two accounts, appearing to make the exchange its largest customer, and Alameda its largest investor.