Benzinga - FTX chairman Sam Bankman-Fried once managed to arrange meetings with top federal officials, including the Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome H. Powell before he was charged with fraud.
Mark Wetjen, an FTX policy official and former commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, helped set the meeting between Powell and Bankman-Fried, reported the New York Times. Despite his reservations about digital currency, Powell was interested to learn more. Bankman-Fried also met other senior officials such as Lael Brainard, now the director of the White House National Economic Council and Martin Gruenberg, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The industry has faced a significant government crackdown after FTX fell from grace, prompting some crypto entrepreneurs to seek friendlier governments abroad.
Despite millions being poured into lobbying, some Congressional offices have become reluctant to meet with industry representatives.
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As Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial approaches, the crypto industry is striving to shift focus away from FTX. Stand With Crypto, a non-profit backed by digital currency giant Coinbase, plans to hold a “fly-in” to enable industry players to interact with lawmakers.
Nevertheless, the industry’s access to key officials at regulatory agencies has noticeably diminished. The industry now aims to distinguish itself from FTX and regain lost ground.
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Photo by Cointelegraph on Wikimedia
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