SBF ‘didn’t like’ decentralized Bitcoin — ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood
Bitcoin (BTC) is too “decentralized and transparent” for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, says Cathie Wood.
In a chirping On December 10, Wood, who is the CEO of the investment giant ARK Invest, delivered another damning assessment of the FTX saga.
Wood: SBF “couldn’t control” Bitcoin
As the legal ramifications of FTX and Bankman-Fried, aka SBF, continue, Bitcoin loyalists are giving him little sympathy.
ARK’s Wood is now firmly among them, no less as BTC price action continues to trade around 20% down on the month.
“The Bitcoin blockchain did not skip a beat during the crisis caused by opaque centralized actors,” she wrote.
“No wonder Sam Bankman Fried didn’t like Bitcoin: it’s transparent and decentralized. He couldn’t control it.”
Wood linked to ARK Invest’s latest Bitcoin market roundup, “The Bitcoin Monthly,” where analysts including David Puell came out positive on BTC despite the recent setbacks.
“ARK’s belief in decentralized and transparent public blockchains is as strong as ever,” it said.
“FTX and other cases like Celsius and Alameda suggest that decentralization and transparency are essential as antidotes to the gross mismanagement that can be associated with centralized intermediaries, especially fraudulent ones.”
As Cointelegraph reported, ARK has nevertheless doubled its exposure to other crypto firms feeling the heat from FTX, notably Grayscale, part of the Digital Currency Group (DCG) conglomerate, in the form of an increased stake in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
The most recent purchase of nearly 177,000 GBTC shares occurred on November 21, according to data from Wood’s dedicated website, Cathie’s Ark.
Bankman-Fried has few allies in Bitcoi
Meanwhile, the FTX saga rolls on, with Bankman-Fried at center stage as revelations continue to pour out.
Related: Bitcoin Price Liquidation Risk Rises As BTC Struggles To Regain $18K
Among the latest was news that FTX subsidized crypto news outlet The Block via hidden payments to its now former CEO, Mike McCaffrey.
Additional reports indicate that Bankman-Fried deliberately attempted to destabilize the Bitcoin blockchain to limit the FTX fallout.
“Sam used stolen and fake money to corrupt the establishment and undermine bitcoin,” MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, tweeted over the weekend in a similar hardline attitude to Wood.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg. How many other journalists, academics, money managers, politicians, charities, influencers and lobbyists has he corrupted or co-opted?”
BTC/USD traded above $17,000 to the weekly close, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed, with macro volatility expected over the coming week.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
