FTX CEO and billionaire, San Bankman-Fried seems to believe the tough financial times the crypto community has endured recently are winding down.
In an interview with Axios Pro on Thursday, he mentioned that the number of calls he had been receiving from troubled businesses had been reduced from the initial few weeks of the ‘crypto winter’.
Though there have been multiple shocks to the industry with major crypto lenders falling, he noted that given the turnaround of a positive economic environment and social sentiment, recovery could be “remarkably quick”.
According to SBF, the exchange is “willing to lose a little” in its role as a last-resort lender. Previously, Alameda Research, which is also under the direction of Bankman-Fried, gave a loan worth approximately $500 million to Voyager Digital. However, now he says that $70 million of the loan was junior to custom assets and could be lost.
But despite that, Bankman-Fried said he still expects FTX to turn a profit in every quarter this year. Compared to last year, FTX profits are said to be “running kind of roughly in line”.
In fact, the exchange has gained market share in recent months. When asked if FTX would consider adding Bitcoin (BTC) to its treasury, Bankman-Fried rejected the idea but added that they would have thought about it in the range of $15,000.
Working around strict US crypto regulations, FTX US’s mission to extend its range of financial products within the US has made some progress. FTX is currently in the market for an equities clearing firm after acquiring Embed Financial Technologies in June and investing in US national stock exchange, Investors Exchange.
And though a big emphasis on crypto is decentralization, Bankman-Fried continuously referred to the influence the macroeconomy has on the crypto market. He also highlighted the need for more regulatory clarity for structuring the market and making both consumers and organizations comfortable in the industry.
