The collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX helped regulators better understand the risks in the industry and evolve regulations accordingly, said Christina Rolle, the executive director of the Securities Commission of The Bahamas.
“Leading up to FTX’s collapse, there was a crypto winter that really informed a lot of what we saw as risks in the industry. As regulators, we saw that this is now beginning to look like some other things we understand,” Rolle said during a panel discussion at the D3 Bahamas event on Wednesday.
“What you would see is the evolution of the regulation. We’re now dealing with things like staking and segregation of assets. We’re looking at how a digital asset firm may be vertically integrated and the inherent risks that may be there,” Rolle said.
FTX, a crypto exchange based in the Bahamas, filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. on Nov. 11, 2022. Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder and former chief executive officer of the exchange, has been charged with seven counts of wire fraud and money laundering. His trial began on Oct. 4.
Caroline Ellison, the former chief executive officer of FTX’s sister trading firm Alameda Research, testified in court this week and stated that Alameda took around US$14 billion from FTX customer funds to repay lenders before the exchange’s collapse.