The criminal fraud trial of cryptocurrency bad boy Sam Bankman-Fried got underway last week, while at the same time, the crypto crowd went missing in action at the Futures Industry Association conference in Chicago. Not long ago, “SBF,” as he’s widely known, dominated the city’s annual financial-market confab, parading around the Sheraton Grand Chicago with his scruffy pals like he owned the place. And considering how much his FTX trading firm had paid for sponsorships, he practically did.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has maintained that crypto needs to conform to existing securities laws, and he is pursuing a string of enforcement actions against some of the leading crypto operators. We’re hopeful the legislation will perform a public service by defining these digital assets once and for all and giving regulators stronger tools for oversight. But nothing is close to being approved.