An executive at a major exchange says it detected red flags months before the historic FTX collapse.
CME Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy said he suspected crypto exchange corruption on the day of his first one-on-one meeting with founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
“I told my team that this has nothing to do with cryptocurrencies,” Duffy told CNBC.fast money“He wanted my model, Intercontinental, CME, and all other asset classes listed under his model.
Bankman-Fried’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Duffy spoke for the first time about his meeting with Bankman-Fried last week on the podcast “On the Tape,” hosted by “Fast Money” traders Guy Adami and Dan Nathan.
“You’re a crook. You’re an absolute crook,” Duffy told Bankman Freed.
Now, Duffy explains in more detail what happened leading up to his encounter.
Duffy wanted to know that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission was considering a request for a relaxation of regulatory rules to promote the Bankman-Fried trading model. He was told it was required under the Innovation Guidelines.
“Immediately cleared my doubts,” said Duffy. “Why is there so much pressure on this application? And when I met him, I knew right away that this was a joke.”
But Duffy said it’s no surprise that FTX has attracted so many investors and high-profile donors.
“When the greatest quarterback of all time and his commercial supermodel wife answered the phone and said, ‘Are you in, are you in?’ It looks like a dump scheme,” Duffy said. [Brady].”
The FTX bankruptcy is the largest cryptocurrency exchange bankruptcy on record. It is currently in the early stages of a bankruptcy hearing in Delaware. His FTX attorney James Bromley, who was hired by FTX’s new management team on Monday, said: “We are dealing with a different kind of animal.”
“There will be many hearings in the future. Let’s track the money. Let’s see who knew when, where and what,” Duffy added.
The Senate Agriculture Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the FTX implosion on December 1.
“I hope someone has the courage to ask, ‘Did anyone pressure the CFTC to go ahead with a petition that could put everything in jeopardy?'” Duffy said. Told.
Disclosure: CME Group is a sponsor of the “On The Tape” podcast.