Sam Bankman-Fried is serving 25 years in a California federal prison, his retrial request was pushed back on, and yet the FTX founder remains one of the louder voices shaping crypto’s regulatory conversation – this time taking direct aim at Gary Gensler.
In a post on X, Bankman-Fried didn’t just credit the Trump administration for changing the SEC’s direction. He made a pointed allegation about what was happening behind closed doors under the previous chair.
“He and @SenWarren ran a covert campaign in DC to strip the CFTC of all of its power – bringing everything under his SEC,” Bankman-Fried wrote, adding that Gensler then “used that power to require licenses he was unwilling to grant.”
SBF called it the biggest threat to crypto during the Biden era and said his team spent significant time in Washington fighting it.
Whether you trust the messenger is a separate question, but the SEC-CFTC turf war over crypto jurisdiction was real and well-documented. Gensler consistently argued the SEC held broad authority over digital assets, a position the CFTC openly pushed back against throughout his tenure.
The post opens bluntly: “How @realDonaldTrump fixed the SEC: fire Gensler, hire Atkins.”
Under Donald Trump-nominated Paul Atkins, the regulatory posture has shifted noticeably. Where Gensler leaned on enforcement as his primary tool, Atkins has committed publicly to building an actual licensing framework for crypto rather than prosecuting around the absence of one.
A day before this post went up, federal prosecutors filed their formal opposition to SBF’s retrial request, describing his arguments as “incoherent” and “fanciful.” Judge Lewis Kaplan has yet to rule. His Second Circuit appeal also remains pending, Caroline Ellison has already been released, and the White House has ruled out a pardon.
Read More: Sam Bankman-Fried Asked for a New Trial. Prosecutors Used His Own Donations to Say No.
The man giving Trump credit for fixing crypto regulation is still a long way from any exit.
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