ORLANDO, Fla. – The once “King of Crypto” Samuel Bankman-Fried is facing eight criminal charges after federal authorities say the disgraced cryptocurrency investor defrauded $1.8 billion from investors.
Bankman-Fried’s arrest sends the message that Securities and Exchange Commission regulators will not tolerate fraud, even in a new, emerging asset class like cryptocurrency.
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“We already have laws in the books to protect against fraud. At the end of the day, this was fraud,” said Perianne Boring, an Orlando resident who has spent almost a decade on Capitol Hill advocating on behalf of digital assets like bitcoin.
“Regulators should prosecute. [They should] prosecute aggressively against those who break the law, but to be clear, this was fraud, and that can happen in any industry,” said Boring.
Boring’s trade association, the Chamber of Digital Commerce, focuses on teaching lawmakers about digital assets, and for years Boring has asked for regulatory clarity in the cryptocurrency space.
“Because the U.S. has completely failed in offering clarity to businesses, activities moved overseas. That gave rise to FTX,” said Boring. “Had the U.S. created a legal environment that encourages digital asset companies to operate here in the United States, we…
