My Story of Telling the SEC "I Told You So" on FTX

I have asked the SEC to seek public comment on issues related to cryptocurrency custodians and intermediary disputes. The SEC refused to take my advice and FTX collapsed soon after.

"I hate to say I told you so" is an oft-repeated but rarely sincere phrase. It's a delightful feeling to take credit for giving advance warning of a problem. It's a liberty I take with the federal financial regulators of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

In January of this year, when I was a member of the SEC's Investor Advisory Committee which advises SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on crypto and other issues, I filed a petition with of the SEC. I asked them to open an official public comment on the unique issues presented by crypto and other digital assets. I indicated that custody of cryptocurrencies and conflicts of interest between intermediaries were key issues that the SEC should address.

I called this fresh start a “Digital Asset Regulation Genesis Block” that would help the SEC improve crypto regulation. The SEC aggressively ignored me.

At the end of my term on the SEC Advisory Board last week, I took the opportunity to give Chairman Gensler a few strong words about his abuse of digital assets. Check out Gensler's response. pic.twitter.com/3oa5xJU1Ch

The inability of the SEC and US banking regulators to adapt the rules to crypto intermediaries did not directly cause the explosion of FTX. Yet their failure to create working rules for US crypto intermediary exchanges to hold crypto enabled an environment where scammers like Sam Bankman-Fried could thrive o...