Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, stated in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday that he would “love to be helpful” to regulators considering new guidelines for the cryptocurrency business.
Bankman-Fried acknowledged that his sector has occasionally clashed with government representatives, but he believes that regulation is “good” and “the correct thing to do.”
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried stated during an event in Washington, D.C., that the cryptocurrency business hasn’t always done a great job engaging with federal regulators, but the founder of the crypto exchange is in favor of additional regulations for digital assets.
“We are totally on board with regulation. It has to happen. It’s healthy. It’s the right thing to do. And we’d love to be helpful any way we can,” Bankman-Fried said. “I think our industry has not always done a great job at saying that. Sometimes maybe that was the intention, but it’s come out more like ‘fuck you’ and that that wasn’t as constructive a way to engage.”
On Wednesday morning at the Bipartisan Policy Center, Bankman-Fried gave an hour-long presentation on cryptocurrency. President of the center Jason Grumet guided the extensive discussion.
The Financial Stability Oversight Council published a report earlier this month outlining potential threats to the financial system that crypto companies serving as clearing houses or broker-dealers, like FTX, may provide. The paper, which was included in a broader collection of materials published this fall by the Biden administration, encouraged Congress to adopt new crypto legislation.
When questioned about the report, Bankman-Fried responded “Here’s an area where, frankly, a lot of players in the crypto industry have to grapple with how to handle this right now”. He proposed new legal restrictions that increase transparency, such as judgments about exchange listing.
Bankman-Fried declared that if given the chance to speak before the Financial Services Oversight Council (FSOC), a super committee of financial regulators presided over by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, he would support regulation and avoid the competitive impulses of the sector.
“Let’s start with the low-hanging fruit,” Bankman-Fried said. “I use stablecoins a lot as an example because I think it’s just the cleanest – it’s just like clearly a good thing which helps reduce risk, to do this without getting in the way of legitimate finance. It’s just good. Let’s do that.”
Bankman-Fried continued by saying that there is “so much potential” to improve consumer protections and establish new standards for digital assets.
The FTX CEO has made many appearances at financial events in Washington this week, and his company is in charge of a significant lobbying effort in the capital. Bankman-remarks Fried’s come as politicians and regulators consider new regulations for the cryptocurrency sector, particularly in light of this summer’s market collapse. Policy observers anticipate that the House Financial Services Committee will introduce a stablecoin law within the upcoming year.
