Regulating the decentralised finance (DeFi) space and the broader crypto market remains tough for regulators, and Sam Bankman-Fried has now warned against locking in decisions that could impact the space.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of FTX crypto exchange, has warned policymakers from making permanent decisions that could impact the DeFi space.
He mentioned this in FTX’s 3,800-word “industry norms manual,” published yesterday. SBF wrote that;
“Above all else: figuring out how and where DeFi and things tangentially related to DeFi do and don’t fit into regulatory contexts is a hard problem and one on which there is not yet firmly settled thought. We should be careful about locking in decisions absent working out a sound and responsible basis for doing so.”
The FTX boss pointed out that maintaining the presumptive freedom of peer-to-peer transfers and decentralised blockchains (unless there is specific evidence of a scam, illicit finance, etc.) is absolutely necessary.
SBF said he hopes a cryptocurrency industry group will look into the issues mentioned in his draft and eventually come up with an appropriate set of community norms.
In the post, the cryptocurrency billionaire also discussed the potential for blockchains to improve the current traditional financial markets. He wrote;
“Tokenising stocks could help simplify securities settlement, providing a stronger and more equitable market structure for retail.”
Earlier this week, the Texas State Securities Board revealed that it is investigating FTX US over allegations that it offers unregistered securities products in the United States via its yield-bearing product.
Regarding the listing of securities on its platform, SBF wrote that FTX analyses various coins and tokens before listing them. He said;
“First, our legal team will do an analysis of the asset according to the Howey Test and other relevant case law and guidance. If that analysis finds it to be a security, we will treat it as such. If the first test does not find it to be a security, we will generally treat it as a non-security commodity, unless the asset is found by the SEC and/or an appropriate court of jurisdiction to be a security. If we do find an asset to potentially be a security, we will not list it in the US unless/until there is a process for properly registering it.’
This latest development comes after SBF revealed earlier this month that FTX could move its headquarters to the United States after SEC registration.
FTX has been spending on acquisitions and bailouts since the start of the year. The company revealed last month that it still has $1 billion to spend on acquisitions.