Transcript Ep. 403 - Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

Laura Shin: 

Hey all, for this week's show, I talked to Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, who, as I'm sure you're aware, spends more time in Washington D.C. than most crypto entrepreneurs. He had some surprising things to say about crypto regulation. First, he's actually pretty sanguine about the prospect for regulatory clarity to come soon in the US. Second, he also said, and this was a big shocker to me, that the implosions of Three Arrows Capital and Terra haven't changed the conversation about crypto very much in Washington. Given that he's so active in talking to regulators and lawmakers, plus a huge political donor, I asked him a bit about his views on that, how much of his giving is driven by his belief in effective altruism, and how much of it is driven by his interest in helping the crypto industry grow. What I enjoyed about this part of the conversation is the nuance with which Sam spoke. We also cover some of the big line top news in crypto, the bear market, the Merge, stablecoins, et cetera, and I asked him about the vision for FTX as a centralized company in a decentralized space. Just FYI, we recorded before news broke that he'd reached out to Elon Musk expressing interest in potentially buying Twitter as part of a joint effort, and before FTX had won Voyager’s assets, and before it was reported that FTX was considering purchasing Celsius’ assets. However, I've put links to all these developments in the show notes. This was a super fun conversation, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Now, on to the show. 

Hi, everyone, welcome to Unchained, your no-hype resource for all things crypto. I'm your host, Laura Shin, author of The Cryptopians. I started covering crypto seven years ago and, as a senior editor at Forbes, was the first mainstream media reporter to cover cryptocurrency full time. This is the October 4, 2022 episode of Unchained. 

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Today's guest is Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX. Welcome, Sam.

Sam Bankman-Fried:

Thanks for having me.

Laura Shin: