FTX’s Bankman-Fried says he is “surprisingly optimistic” the US will draft crypto regulations within a year

Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, told attendees at this year’s SALT New York event that he believes US lawmakers will draft a bill or other framework setting new rules for digital assets within a year, and that he has been regularly travel. to Washington on lobbying trips.

Speaking by video, Bankman-Fried kicked off a conference that began with a focus on issues of government regulation, which has created tensions with the crypto industry, reflecting at least in part laws written in a pre-digital age. The SALT conference was sponsored by FTX and Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital, and it comes just days after the exchange announced it had bought a 30% stake in the investment firm for an undisclosed price, expanding existing ties between the companies.

SkyBridge, managed by the former White House communications director turned bitcoin evangelist, said it would use the proceeds to buy $40 million in cryptocurrencies.

Bankman-Fried told the mostly suit-wearing traditional finance crowd, whose approach to fashion contrasted with his signature tousled hair and T-shirt look, that much of his lobbying has been “encouraging” and that he was “surprisingly” upbeat.” about the prospects for a more clearly defined regulatory framework.

Interested in reading more? Subscribe to Forbes’ CryptoAsset & Blockchain Advisor here.

His conversations with lawmakers in recent weeks, he told conference attendees, concerned investor and customer protection. “I’ve been quite pleasantly surprised at the extent to which a lot of people in DC are honestly just trying to figure out how to do the right thing,” he said.

Bankman-Fried is worth an estimated $17.6 billion, Forbes calculates, and he was seen as crypto’s knight in shining armor as he provided funding to crypto firms exposed to failed lenders including Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and Voyager Digital. But a more appropriate title might be DC lobbyist. Based in the Bahamas, the FTX boss revealed that he now visits Washington more than once a month.

FTX leaders have also not-so-quietly donated funds to an increasing number of political campaigns. Bankman-Fried made the second largest donation to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, and recently FTX’s chief engineer indirectly gave $1.1 million to a congressional candidate in Vermont.

Not everyone in attendance shared Bankman-Fried’s optimism. In a panel titled “To The Moon and Back: Macro Outlook for Digital Assets” moderated by Scaramucci, CEOs Mike Novogratz of the investment company Galaxy Digital and Tom Farley, the incoming head of the crypto exchange Bullish, were skeptical about the chances of positive changes by Washington in the near future.

“We’re at a point of frustration,” Novogratz said, pointing to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) “regulation by enforcement” approach that has drawn criticism from industry leaders and other regulators alike.

“We’re not getting clarity, we’re not getting a bill in the fall, and we’re not getting clarity from the SEC and the CFTC in the fall,” Farley said, referring to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “We’re going to mess around here, at least in the United States.”

SALT will run through September 14 at the Javits Center in New York.