Sam Bankman-Fried to Step Back from Crypto Lobbying and Let ‘Crypto Twitter’ Take Charge

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Jaroslaw Adamowski

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Jaroslaw Adamowski

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June 26, 2023

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Sam Bankman-Fried, the outspoken CEO and founder of major crypto exchange FTX, has offered what he calls his “final thoughts” on the optimal lobbying strategy for the crypto and blockchain industry that could pave the way for more industry-friendly regulation in the U.S.  At the same time, he warned the industry over the potential negative outcome of engaging in “relatively strident/adversarial strategies”

The October 29 statement comes shortly after the entrepreneur expressed what could be considered as his support for some of the provisions of the controversial Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA), a legislative proposal under discussion by the U.S. Congress. 

“I really do think that regulation is going to get better, clearer, and create pathways for crypto to come back onshore,” he tweeted on 23 October. 

Meanwhile, some industry observers have accused the bill of a potentially detrimental impact on decentralized finance (DeFi) due to replacing software codes with control intermediaries.

In his latest series of tweets, Bankman-Fried admitted that, despite their earlier differences, he ultimately agrees with Erik Voorhees, the CEO and founder of decentralized exchange ShapeShift and well-known opponent of crypto regulation, on “what’s important and the right policy”, namely economic freedom, eliminating “discriminatory, classist standards for investment”, and ensuring freedom for the DeFi sector.

“I don’t always agree on the best strategy! But I might be wrong. And more important, it’s not my decision to make–it’s the community’s. So: *I won’t push against the community’s strategy* even where I think it might not be the most effective way to accomplish the goal,” FTX’s chief executive recognized. 

The exchange’s head said that he hopes that, for the sake of the industry, “the crypto twitter community has carefully considered all of the details of possible bills and policy proposals, and that the crypto twitter community correctly understands the details of policymaking and negotiation and alliances in DC.”

At the same time, Bankman-Fried voiced his concern over the potential implications of betting the cryptosphere’s future on what he described as “some relatively strident/adversarial strategies” which could end up backfiring and undermining DeFi’s growth. 

“There are a huge number of possibly paths here–some fairly subtle–and I worry that some people haven’t fully thought out, empirically, what the result would be of possible decisions we could make,” according to the entrepreneur. 

“But hopefully I’m wrong about that. Crypto Twitter, take the wheel,” he said. 

In response to SBF’s tweets, Voorhees asked the  exchange’s CEO whether he would be “willing to formally request of Senate Ag Committee to defer marking up DCCPA until next year?”