FTX founder Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, despite publicly advocating for crypto regulation to protect customers, displayed a strong aversion to regulators during his ongoing criminal trial. When questioned by Assistant U.S. Prosecutor Danielle Sassoon about his previous supportive statements on Twitter, SBF claimed he couldn’t recall them but acknowledged making a derogatory remark about regulators in private.
In addition to his profane language, SBF admitted to viewing a portion of the Crypto Twitter community negatively. Before his arrest, he had testified before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee in 2021 about crypto regulation, and when questioned about his views, he suggested that his support for regulations might have been for public relations.
SBF also acknowledged that drafting crypto regulations could benefit FTX by helping the exchange gain a competitive edge over Binance. This revelation comes in the context of FTX’s subsequent collapse, where it was revealed that the exchange held nearly $15 billion in customer deposits, with $10 billion missing. An attempt by Binance to acquire FTX fell apart after discrepancies were discovered in FTX’s financial records, leading to a liquidity crisis.
The ongoing criminal trial of Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried is expected to conclude in the coming week.
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