But the transaction shows Alameda’s reach in the crypto industry at the height of the bubble in 2021 and early 2022. At that time, firms such as Alameda were promising huge returns to investors but many ultimately failed to deliver.

A spokesman for the foundation confirmed James Ferguson was on the board after this masthead noted his position on the Cayman Islands General Register, having earlier refused to do so, and that one of its subsidiaries had loaned about $US800,000 worth of Guild of Guardians tokens to Alameda.

“All members sit on the board as independent members, not representing any company and the board maintains strict independence from its partners,” the spokesman said. “The Digital Worlds Foundation is an independent, non-profit organisation. Non-profit foundations are a common entity structure which support the decentralisation of token protocols, and are used by many of the largest and most impactful blockchain projects.”

The loan was originally disclosed in a letter from AirTree Ventures, a major investor in Immutable, to its backers that was obtained by this masthead. It put the value of the loan at about $US1 million and mistakenly described the foundation as Immutable’s “grants arm”. A spokeswoman for AirTree later clarified that the foundation was independent.

A list of creditors from FTX’s administrators published by the US courts also includes Guild of Guardians, with an address listed as an Immutable subsidiary in Sydney called Leonis.

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But an Immutable spokesman said the document was inaccurate and stood by Robbie Ferguson’s previous statement. “Immutable has not provided any loan to Alameda or FTX, and our previous statements on this are correct,” the spokesman said. “Any reports which state that Immutable, or any subsidiary including Leonis Pty Ltd, is a creditor are incorrect. Its inclusion on any creditor list is an error.”

“The Digital Worlds Foundation is an independent foundation and is not part of the Immutable group of companies,” the spokesman said separately. “Immutable does not have any ownership in or control over the Digital Worlds Foundation.”

The spokesman also emphasised the foundation’s independence. “James is a director of it in his personal capacity,” the spokesman said. “It is commonplace for a person to hold more than one independent board seat in an ecosystem.”

The Cayman Islands, a small British overseas territory in the Caribbean, is a popular home to crypto projects because of its permissive attitude towards the technology and the stability of its laws.