FTX CEO Criticizes Industry Stance on Russia Sanctions

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has criticized the crypto trade for presenting its insurance policies round Russian sanctions poorly.

SBF Says Messaging Has Been Unhelpful

In a press release to Reuters on Mar. 18, Sam Bankman-Fried criticized different cryptocurrency exchanges for his or her unclear compliance with sanctions that focus on Russian oligarchs.

Bankman-Fried mentioned that he was “very annoyed with the messaging that [the crypto] trade has had on this” and mentioned that public statements from some companies have been unhelpful. He mentioned:

“I believe it has been mainly anti-regulatory, is the way it’s been perceived, and I believe that’s the way it sounds, and I believe that has induced a reasonably large notion subject.”

Bankman-Fried argued that this was a difficulty of notion and presentation—not a difficulty with the insurance policies set by exchanges.

“I don’t assume that is actually in regards to the content material of the choices…It’s about the way in which that they’ve been offered,” he mentioned.

Bankman-Fried is probably going referring to statements from the CEOs of main exchanges. Firms like Kraken, Binance, and Coinbase have all complied with focused sanctions towards Russia whereas additionally stating that broader restrictions on Russia are uncalled for.

FTX Is Following Sanctions Completely

FTX itself has taken a path much like that of different exchanges by blocking sanctioned Russian people whereas permitting non-sanctioned people to make use of its providers. The trade has additionally blocked Russian banks each sanctioned and unsanctioned.

Nonetheless, FTX has been extra vocal in regards to the extent of restrictions. In a brand new CNBC interview, Bankman-Fried prompt that there are “loads of processes in place” that make it troublesome for Russian oligarchs to successfully use crypto. He famous that banks, people, and tokens concerned in a transaction all endure sanctions checks.

He additionally mentioned that FTX’s relationship with regulators has been “extraordinarily constructive” in imposing sanctions. He didn’t remark particularly on Senator Elizabeth Warren’s new invoice, which goals to implement sanctions on Russia extra completely, when requested.

FTX is presently the fourth largest trade by buying and selling quantity, having dealt with $2 billion in buying and selling during the last 24 hours. Its American counterpart, FTX.US, dealt with one other $180 million in quantity.

Disclosure: On the time of writing, the writer of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and different cryptocurrencies.