After Vox published a series of messages with FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the story of the once-dominant cryptocurrency exchange that crashed into bankruptcy quickly took a new turn. The former executive, known as SBF in the cryptocurrency community, spoke about regulators, ethics, and bankruptcy regrets, among other topics that have taken centre stage in tech since FTX itself immolated.
SBF criticised regulators in the notes, which the publication shared in screenshot form, saying that “they don’t protect customers at all” and “make everything worse.” The approach and tone are noteworthy given that SBF’s former company will soon at least be up against the American Congress. Later messages make it clear that his perspective on regulators is based on his belief that their methods of control are overly simplistic — “just ‘do more business’ vs. ‘do less business’ and ‘put up more moats’ vs. ‘put up fewer moats'” — which, in his opinion, doesn’t distinguish “between good and bad.”
