Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of Bahamian-based FTX crypto exchange, believes the SEC’s decision to approve a Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a huge step forward. Bankman-Fried shared his opinions during an interview on October 21, saying the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) has opened a gateway for crypto to become mainstream.
In the interview, Bankman-Fried pointed out that the ETF’s approval is the start of the US warming up to more structured products from the crypto industry. He added that this development might also foster the introduction of a new legal framework for digital assets. Bankman-Fried further noted that he would not be surprised to see more regulation of markets and exchanges.
His bullish outlook comes as FTX plans to expand into the US. Although the company has offices in several US cities, including Chicago and Miami, it does not operate a crypto exchange platform in the country. According to Bankman-Fried, licensing and regulations have made it challenging to launch a crypto exchange platform in the US.
Showing FTX’s willingness to establish a crypto trading platform in the US, the 29-year-old executive said,
We’re excited to work with the [Commodity Futures Trading Commission], excited to work with the SEC and with other regulators to figure out how we can have fully regulated and licensed market activity in the United States.
FTX continues growing rapidly
This news comes after FTX secured over $420 million in its Series B-1 funding round. A press release disclosed this news yesterday, noting that 69 investors injected $420,690,000 into the company, bringing its valuation to $25 billion. Among the investors that took part in the funding round are Temasek, Sequoia Capital, Sea Capital, ICONIQ Growth, Tiger Global, IVP.
Touting FTX, Tom Loverro, General Partner at IVP, said,
FTX has that rare combination of a visionary founder, impeccable execution and an exploding market. They also take regulatory compliance and engagement seriously.
Loverro added that IVP believes only the trusted, regulated exchanges will win in the long run.
With the obtained funds, FTX seeks to improve the user experience. The exchange also intends to address other adjacent market opportunities. Such opportunities include equities, prediction markets, NFTs, and videogame partnerships, according to the company’s Head of Product, Ramnik Arora.
Despite being in the market for only two years, FTX has established itself as a leading crypto exchange and competes with the likes of Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken. Per Bankman-Fried, the exchange seeks to establish itself as a trustworthy and innovative platform by actively engaging regulators across the globe and seeking opportunities to expand its offerings to crypto investors.
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