Gensler’s SEC gamble, Binance vs the CFTC and who takes Bankman-Fried’s place in Washington: The Scoop

Policy and regulation in the U.S. is top of mind in the industry of crypto and digital assets. The Scoop's Frank Chaparro sat down with The Block's policy reporter Stephanie Murray and broke down the biggest stories and trends from Gary Gensler's big bet against crypto to CBDCs and who takes Sam Bankman-Fried's place in Washington, DC.

From the collapse of FTX, Blockfi, Voyager, Celsius and others, to the aggressive stance regulators are displaying, it's been busy in Washington.

"We went from big bull market to the collapse of some of the biggest crypto firms that sent ripples through the entire industry," Murray said. 

"It's definitely impacted me. And Stephanie, I mean, most of the companies I wrote about are now bankrupt or are out of business, about 50% from Blockfi to FTX to Celsius," Chaparro said. "I'm gonna have to hope on the policy beat, I don't really have much to do these days!"

Who's Bankman-Fried's Washington replacement?

For all his faults, Chaparro noted that Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of bankrupt FTX, stepped up to represent the industry in Washington, DC, to agitate for change. Chaparro cited Coinbase's Brian Armstrong and Kraken's Jesse Powell as leaders who, while not running apparent frauds, are antagonistic to politicians and may not be great replacements.

"Whereas Sam was not antagonistic to regulators, but ran a fraud. So what we need is someone who doesn't operate a fraud, and who is not antagonistic to regulators. So there's a Venn diagram there, and somewhere there is a CEO or a figurehead who can fill the gap," Chaparro said. 

This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Circle and CleanSpark.

About Circle

Circle is a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. Visit circle.com/Scoop to learn more.

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CleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK) is America’s Bitcoin Miner™. Visit cleanspark.com/theblock to learn more about the CleanSpark way.