Sam Bankman-Fred, co-founder and CEO of FTX, believes that the economic crisis in crypto is waning. He noted, in an interview with Axios Pro on Thursday, that he no longer receives “a lot of calls” from distressed companies, as he did in the early weeks of the so-called crypto winter. Given the positive macroeconomic environment, he said, recovery could occur “remarkably quickly.”
Bankman-Fried said FTX was “prepared to lose a little” in its role as lender of last resort. He noted that $70 million of the loan, with a total value of about $500 million, provided by Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research to Voyager Digital was smaller than customer assets and could be lost.
However, Bankman-Fried said he expects FTX to turn a profit every quarter this year. FTX earnings are “kind of doing roughly in line with last year,” and the company has been gaining market share in the past few months. FTX rejected the idea of adding Bitcoin (BTC) to its vault, Bankman-Fried said, but would have considered it in the $15,000 range.
FTX US’s drive to expand its range of financial products in the US has progressed in the past year, said Bankman-Fried, and there are “tens of thousands” of people on the waiting list. FTX is in the market for an equity clearing firm to align with its acquisition of Embed Financial Technologies last month and its strategic investment in the US National Investor Exchange (IEX).
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Bankman-Fried has repeatedly pointed out the greater impact of the economy on the cryptocurrency market. In addition, he emphasized the need for greater regulatory clarity to build the market structure and make consumers and organizations comfortable working in the crypto space.
He was bullish on the proposed US cryptocurrency regulation, saying:
“I am very excited about the bills we have seen. […] I think they will go a long way.”
Bankman-Fried said crypto regulation “could look similar” to regulation in traditional finance, with “the same principles at a high level,” even if the details of crypto regulation are different.
