SEC Chair is Open to an FTX Reboot Under New Management

• SEC Chair Gary Gensler hinted that he would be open to FTX restarting operations
• Fintech startup Figure Technologies, crypto VC firm Proof Group, and Tom Farley seek to buy FTX.
• Gensler said that if the new management operates within the law, he has no problem with a reboot.
• He also said that the digital asset sector has many fraudsters who need to be kept away from investors.

Gary Gensler, the Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has hinted he would be open to a rebooted crypto exchange, FTX, provided the new management complies with the law. FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 under the leadership of disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF in the digital asset sector

The SEC Chair commented in response to the news that Tom Farley, a former president of the New York Stock Exchange, was seeking to purchase the bankrupt crypto exchange and restart operations. “If Tom or anybody else wanted to be in this field, I would say, ‘Do it within the law,’” Gensler said in an interview at DC Fintech Week on Nov. 8, according to CNBC, while adding:

“Build the trust of investors in what you’re doing and ensure that you’re doing the proper disclosures—and also that you’re not commingling all these functions, trading against your customers or using their crypto assets for your own purposes.”

It is crucial to note that Farley is also the CEO of crypto exchange Bullish, which was founded in 2021, and is a huge supporter of cryptocurrencies. In a statement in 2021, he said that the “smartest engineering talent is going into digital assets; digital assets are solving very important problems.”

Interestingly, the other two firms that are interested in purchasing FTX include fintech startup Figure Technologies and cryptocurrency venture capital firm Proof Group, as per a report from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). While the SEC Chair has expressed a positive opinion on rebooting the bankrupt crypto exchange, the regulator has often stated that digital asset platforms are not operating within the confines of the law

3 FTX bidders in the Auction are:

Bullish – Crypto exchange run by Tom Farley
Figure Technologies – fintech start up and
Proof Group – crypto venture-capital firm

Three bidders will be leading a consortium

— Sunil (FTX Creditor Champion) (@sunil_trades) November 8, 2023

The winner of the three firms can reboot operations, and FTX can once again provide digital asset-related services to customers in the United States and other regions as early as next year. On the other hand, the SEC Chair said that the crypto sector has its share of fraudsters like Bankman-Fried, which need to be kept away from investors

“Think about how many actors in this space are not complying right now with international sanctions and money laundering laws and are using crypto for nefarious or bad actions,” said the SEC Chair.

As reported earlier by Bitnation, US lawmaker Tim Burchett has proposed an amendment to reduce the SEC Chair’s salary to $1. He is one of the many Republicans who have called out Gensler.