FTX’s Bankman-Fried Accused of Misleading Public Over Bitcoin as FT Picks His Words ‘Selectively’
Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and founder of major crypto exchange FTX, and investor in Solana (SOL), was accused of misleading the public as he omitted important facts while bashing Bitcoin (BTC). The CEO claims that his quotes were chosen “very selectively” by a mainstream media outlet, known for skepticism towards Bitcoin and crypto.
In an interview with the Financial Times (FT), Bankman-Fried said that the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, which powers Bitcoin, can’t be scaled to support millions of transactions, thus making the flagship cryptocurrency an inefficient means of payment.
“The Bitcoin network is not a payments network and it is not a scaling network,” he was quoted as saying in the article titled “Bitcoin has no future as a payments network, says FTX chief.”
The CEO also promoted proof-of-stake (PoS)-powered blockchains, such as Solana, that suffered multiple outages this year, saying that these networks are “extremely efficient and lightweight and lower energy cost.”
Nevertheless, Bankman-Fried said that Bitcoin still has a future as “an asset, a commodity and a store of value” similar to gold.
And while the CEO might be technically right, these statements came as a surprise to some in the crypto community, who pointed out that Bitcoin is a settlement layer that uses the fast-growing Lightning Network (LN), a layer 2 (L2) solution designed to make Bitcoin transactions faster and cheaper, as the payment network. Competing blockchains, such as Ethereum (ETH), are also using L2 scaling solutions.
It's not true, but it's this shitcoin conmans spin….when lightning destroys your business model
— Maple 🍁 (@MapleHodl) May 16, 2022
Others called Bankman-Fried’s comments “misleading” since they made no mention of the Lightning Network, speculating that he could be trying to promote Solana, a network he has heavily invested in.
Yeah don't really get why he has to make misleading dishonest comments. Probably trying pump solana.
— The Official Tomato (@2040bitcoin) May 16, 2022
However, the crypto billionaire later said that the FT has chosen his “words very selectively,” acknowledging that “BTC can be [offered] on lightning/L2s/etc.”
I didn't–they just chose my words very selectively 😛
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) May 16, 2022
Meanwhile, in late 2021, when the CEO testified at the Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States hearing, he also took the opportunity to highlight the benefits of PoS over PoW, calling the former a “low-cost, carbon-efficient” alternative.
Previously, Bankman-Fried has also claimed that centralized Solana is better than decentralized Ethereum since it can support a large number of users and transactions and can accommodate mass adoption.
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Reactions:
my thoughts as well. SBF didn't get where he is by not being at least a little media savvy, I wouldn't be surprised if he did this intentionally to see how it would be received in order to test sentiment. One of the oldest PR tricks in the book.
— Rob Bert (pro bit) (@awesomerobis) May 16, 2022
You very well know that scaling and PoW are not related at all. Yet you kept pointing to that and also conveniently left out lightning as a scaling solution. And if you don’t know that you’re just a 12 yr old who’s lucky to be rich
— Ash (@ashtosi) May 16, 2022
I was offered a regular column with the FT. The first article was rewritten four times and watered down to nothing. I ended up refusing to post it with them.
— Peter McCormack🏴☠️ (@PeterMcCormack) May 16, 2022
They have an agenda.
I’ll post my original article up later today. https://t.co/QSLCCtNDru
eh to be fair would it help if he did, FT would just casually drop whatever doesn’t fit their narrative
— Udi | BIP-420 🐱 (@udiWertheimer) May 16, 2022
better to just not talk to them, i’m sure they could manipulate even a qoute from you if you gave them the time of day
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Learn more:
– Lightning Network Adoption at Exchanges is Growing: This is Why It’s Good for Bitcoin
– Major Bitcoin & Crypto Companies Warn of ‘Extreme’ Risk in Proof-of-Stake Systems
– Ripple’s Exec Campaign Has ‘Zero Chance’ of Forcing Bitcoin to Proof-of-Stake, But Brace for More Attacks
– ‘PoS Fanatics Attacking PoW are Actual Supervillains’, Kraken’s Powell Says as US Politicians Charge
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(Updated at 11:04 UTC with an additional tweet.)
