FTX’s Bankman-Fried Defends Crypto Derivative Plan That Irks CME

Crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is defending FTX’s proposal to take the middleman out of Bitcoin and Ether futures trading as the plan comes under heightened attack by other exchanges.

The plan from his crypto trading platform FTXwould allow the company’s US arm to execute every aspect of customers’ crypto derivatives trades on its own -- thus bypassing banks and other financial intermediaries. The proposal, which the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is currently considering, would apply specifically to trades made using margin, which involves putting up collateral.

Sam Bankman-Fried

Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg

“I think this would help make cryptocurrency markets less volatile and less ...