According to Kristin Smith, it is not surprising that after the accusations of fraud by Sam Bankman-Fried, the attitude towards the industry among politicians has changed markedly.
“He spent a huge amount of time walking the halls of Congress, meeting with parliamentarians, leadership, staff – inviting them for drinks.. He also testified several times before Congress, pitching his ideas to legislatures and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,” says Smith.
According to the head of the Blockchain Association, in her 20-year career in Washington, she sees for the first time that a top manager spends so much time lobbying.. Subsequently, says Kristin Smith, this caused significant damage to the industry – many government officials believed Bankman-Fried and listened to him.. Legislators and officials who worked with the former head of FTX, Smith explains, felt betrayed.
What Bankman-Fried was proposing was more like lobbying for FTX interests, rather than the interests of the entire cryptocurrency industry.. This, the head of the association assures, is also confirmed by the businessman's support for the Law on the Protection of the Rights of Consumers of Digital Goods, which was called the “killer of decentralized finance.”
The other day, the FTX Group sent letters to American politicians demanding that by February 28 all the money that they received from the crypto exchange as donations be returned.