Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, discusses his views on crypto regulation, macroeconomics, and the role of FTX in a decentralized industry.
Show highlights:
- whether the market has already bottomed and the influence of macroeconomics
- why Sam thinks regulation could have a significant impact on the crypto industry
- the impact of the Terra collapse, Sam’s thoughts on stablecoins, and the importance of disclaimers
- what the industry can do to prevent high leverage from crypto companies like Three Arrows Capital
- how crypto lenders should manage risk in a sustainable way
- whether the crypto collapses affected the opinion of lawmakers and regulators
- the topics and proposals that Sam is discussing with regulators and his philosophy on financial regulation
- what Sam thinks about building a centralized entity in a decentralized space
- what it would take for FTX to move back to the United States
- why Sam’s political donations more commonly support Democrats, among which are some prominent critics of crypto
- whether he makes political donations based solely on candidates’ crypto stances
- the role of FTX in the TradFi market and whether crypto and TradFi will evolve toward or away from each other
- concerns about potential conflict of interests between FTX and Alameda Research
- the impact of the Merge, the value proposition of Ethereum and whether it affects the narrative of Bitcoin as digital gold
- how FTX is positioning itself in this macroeconomic environment
- the type of acquisitions FTX is interested in
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Sam:
Bailouts and Acquisitions
- FTX raising $1 billion in funding
- FTX’s acquisitions had ‘mixed results’
- Voyager Digital Auction
- Celsius Possible Acquisition
Stablecoins and Regulation
- Bankman-Fried Says He’s ‘Surprisingly Optimistic’ U.S. Will Devise Crypto Rules Within A Year
- Stablecoin Draft Bill
- Yellen cites UST stablecoin risk after it loses its dollar peg
- Previous Coverage of Unchained on Stablecoins and Regulation:
Donations and Politics
- Giant crypto exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried promises to give away most of his $21 billion fortune
- Political donations
- Sam Bankman-Fried is Democrats’ largest donor in May
Alameda Research Concerns
Collapse of Crypto Companies
FTX proposal to clear derivatives
- New method of clearing
- Previous coverage on Unchained:
Interest in buying Twitter
Read the episode transcript here