- SBF has been the topic of discussion regarding regulation
- Some of this regulation is definitively good – SBF
- OFAC sanctions do not require supporting evidence
In the crypto world, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is a controversial figure, perhaps the most so in light of his recent comments about regulation.SBF has appeared almost weekly in CryptoSlate’s people directory’s trending section over the past year.
Following Terra Luna’s demise, SBF and his businesses Alameda Research and FTX rescued BlockFi and Voyager. He also worked with Celsius, but he decided not to invest in them because their balance sheets had $2 billion in holes.
Some have hailed SBF as the crypto savior for his actions through these activities, while others have suggested that he may have had personal reasons.
SBF and crypto regulation
There have been a lot of questions about SBF’s motivation for his public views on crypto regulation in recent weeks. Blocklists, sanctions, consumer protection, hackers, and licensing for DeFi protocols all came up in SBF’s comments on DeFi.Most strikingly, SBF fought that showcasing DeFi items to U.S. retail financial backers would probably require a permit and KYC commitments.
According to a recent blog post that was written by Erik Voorhees of Bankless, the crypto community is not in favor of the requirement that DeFi obtains licenses and conduct KYC checks.
The response and the perspective of Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy were both covered by CryptoSlate.Fortune.com described SBF as the most powerful man in crypto while describing the debate as the battle for crypto’s soul. On October 20, SBF responded to the dispute on Twitter by stating that Voorhees did not feel heard.
The pair appeared face-to-face on the Bankless YouTube channel during a Livestream to discuss the issue after the social media sparring match. This is the first high-level public debate between two important industry figures where 280 characters are not required.
As a result, it might be regarded as an accurate portrayal of the most important aspects of the debate. The conversation was very productive and got to the heart of a lot of the debate. The breakdown that follows focuses on the main points of the discussion as well as the most important factors that affect the rest of us in the crypto industry.
SBF on crypto regulation At the beginning of the Bankless Livestream, SBF addressed the question of whether crypto regulation should be implemented. Parts of it should be and parts of it shouldn’t” was the opening line of his response.
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The DeFi debate
SBF made the observation that the second axis is the one he cares most about, citing stablecoins as evidence. Over the years, many people have questioned the legitimacy of Tether’s holdings, and SBF believes that it is necessary to have some kind of control over whether a stablecoin is fully backed.
Really thorough regulation confirming the number of dollars in the bank account is at least as many as the number of tokens, the FTX CEO stated. SBF, on the other hand, argued that a broker-dealer, which he regarded as very important, should not be required to conduct a straightforward transaction in a store using a stablecoin.
He is of the opinion that crypto will soon be subject to regulation in the United States, and the debate ought to center on which aspects ought to be regulated rather than whether or not they ought to be regulated at all.
SBF confirmed that some of this regulation is definitively good and it is not just a compromise in his opinion. Additionally, he stated that he is “cautiously optimistic” about any forthcoming crypto regulation in the United States.
SBF agreed with Voorhees when he said that some of his posts might have had some “lazy choice of wording” in them. He agreed that DeFi is more open when it is all chain, but Celsius and other companies were much less open and regulated.
SBF also clarified that he meant “everyone in the United States” and “everyone around the world” when he used the word “everyone,” answering a question posed by Voorhees in his initial response.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/10/31/is-sbf-a-superhero-villain-or-simply-misunderstood/