Leaked Email Shows SBF’s Meeting With FDIC Chairman Before Implosion

New information has come to light about the now-bankrupt FTX and its former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sam Bankman-Fried in connection to a top regulator in the United States.

A leaked email exchange showed that Martin Gruenberg, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) received an invitation to meet with the young billionaire before the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange.

The email which was dated Saturday, May 28th, 2022, was mediated by Mark Wetjen, the former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner who later became FTX US Head of Policy and Regulatory Strategy. According to the message in the mail, Gruenberg was scheduled to meet SBF on June 13th, 2022. Also, the mail showed that FTX was in the process of getting federal regulation.

Towards the end of the email, Wetjen claimed that FTX is in the “unusual position of begging the federal government to regulate us.” Also, “We have an application before the CFTC that lays out for the agency how to do so. All the CFTC has to do is approve it. Once the CFTC does, the others will follow — the other major US exchanges also have CFTC licenses.”

Notably, this invitation was sent almost six months before the implosion of FTX and the resignation of Bankman-Fried from his position as the CEO of the crypto firm. On the same day, the FDIC chairman agreed to meet with both SBF and Wetjen as stated in the email. 

Following the implosion of FTX and intense investigation into the exchange’s connection with political entities, an FDIC spokesperson insisted that Gruenberg met with the then-CEO of FTX as part of “routine courtesy visits with leaders of financial firms and institutions.” 

FDIC Issue Cease-and-Desist Order to FTX

About three months before FTX imploded, the FDIC issued a cease-and-desist order to the digital assets service provider. As per a statement by the FDIC, FTX allegedly told users that its products were FDIC-insured. However, SBF doused the issue by clarifying its relationship with the regulator.

“Clear communication is really important; Sorry! FTX does not have FDIC insurance (and we’ve never said so on the website etc.); banks we work with do. We never meant otherwise, and apologize if anyone misinterpreted it.”