In a sensational jailhouse interview with Tucker Carlson, FTX founder and disgraced crypto poster boy Sam Bankman-Fried, called former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairperson Gary Gensler a “nightmare”.
Calling Gensler regime of SEC “something out of a nightmare,” SBF painted a grim picture of the regulatory landscape during the Biden administration. Convicted in April 2024 with a 25-year prison sentence for fraud, Fried has served two years in jail already.
In his 40-minute-long interview with Tucker, Bankman-Fried explained how Gensler’s SEC created a lose-lose situation for crypto firms. According to him, companies were either sued “into the ground” for failing to register or were met with regulatory dead ends when they attempted compliance. “They required licenses that they didn’t know how to give, and every company in crypto ran into this,” he stated.
Reflecting on his expectations from Democrats, SBF admitted, “Never thought that frankly the Democrats, in general, would be the party taking the lead on good financial regulation… but, you know, there were good and bad people in each party and a lot of thoughtful players.”
However, when it came to Gensler, his views were clear: “A company would go offer something to the United States, Gensler would sue them to the ground for not registering. So you go to Gensler to register, say he, you know, we’d—single person effort.”
He further suggested that the SEC, rather than fostering regulatory clarity, became a roadblock to innovation, making it nearly impossible for crypto firms to navigate the system.
Bankman-Fried seemed optimistic about the future of crypto under President Donald Trump, saying the new administration is approaching things “very differently” compared to Biden’s. He also argued that for more than a decade, the federal government has made it harder for crypto to grow by creating unnecessary roadblocks instead of clear regulations.
His comments only add to the ongoing debate over U.S. crypto policies and Gensler’s time at the SEC, sparking even more discussion about how the agency has handled the industry.
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