'Fu** the regulators,' SBF declared covertly
In public, the disgraced crypto executive has often argued for regulation of the cryptocurrency industry despite publicly advocating for cryptocurrency legislation to protect customers, Sam "SBF" Bankman-Fried, founder of the now-failed crypto exchange, appears to have had a deep disdain for regulators.
During SBF's ongoing trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon asked if the executive recalled his previous statements on Twitter regarding his support for regulating blockchain to protect customers. “I don't remember,” SBF responded. Sassoon asked: "But privately you said, 'Fu** the regulators,' right?" “I said that once,” SBF responded. Among other vulgarities, the former crypto executive also stated that he considered a “subset of people” on Crypto Twitter to be “stupid sons of bitches.” Prior to his arrest, SBF testified in 2021 before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee regarding crypto regulation.
You stated that [the regulations] were P.R. [public relations]?" Sassoon asked. SBF replied: "I said something like that." Furthermore, under further questioning, SBF stated that the benefits of helping draft the crypto regulation included the possibility of helping FTX take market share from rival exchange Binance. Before FTX's collapse last November, SBF revealed that the exchange, along with affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research, held nearly $15 billion in customer deposits, with $10 billion reported missing.
On November 8, 2022, Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, signed a letter of intent to acquire FTX. The deal fell through the next day when Binance looked at FTX's books and discovered the asset discrepancy. SBF recalled that on November 7, 2022, net customer withdrawals amounted to $4 billion, or 100 times the average daily trading volume, sending the company into a deep liquidity crisis.
The criminal trial of Bankman-Fried is ongoing and is expected to conclude early next week.
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