The arrest of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried this week amid charges of a billion-dollar fraud corroborates long-standing warnings from critics who have likened the cryptocurrency markets to the Wild West. The question is: Where was the sheriff?
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In the wake of the multibillion-dollar collapse of FTX, some U.S. lawmakers are looking to Gensler’s SEC for a fuller accounting: How did the industry grow so fast — the total value of crypto tokens peaked at $3 trillion a year ago — without the SEC imposing more safeguards on digital assets and the platforms that allow investors to trade them?
Gensler met with Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee last week and at least some of those who have previously defended him were unsatisfied with his answers.
Source: SEC’s Gensler faces scrutiny over FTX and crypto implosions – The Washington Post