CNN interview with SBF: FTX has been profitable for consecutive quarters, and the darkest moment of market liquidity has passed

Original title: "Interviewed by CNN, SBF Talking about the status quo of the encryption market, the purpose of FTX aid agencies, denying the acquisition of Coinbase "

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried accepted an exclusive interview with CNN a few days ago to talk about the recent developments in the encryption market and FTX's own expansion plans. The host Julia Chatterley even jokingly asked whether SBF would acquire Coinbase. What did the two sides talk about in this interview?

SBF was interviewed last Wednesday, July 7th by CNN: First Move, a global business, Programs in Economics and Finance. Topics discussed in this interview include the current situation of the encryption market, market rumors of FTX’s acquisition, why SBF supports these encryption institutions, and the next expansion plan.

Liquidation is painful but healthy in the long run

Julia Chatterley asked at the beginning The current situation of the encryption market:

Q: I think that although it is painful and challenging for the encryption industry now, have you seen a certain degree of "healthy "?

SBF believes that the crypto market is developing towards a healthy situation. Over the past two years, some institutions and capital have developed excessively. Now the market is liquidating these excessive leverage and weeding out companies with capital adequacy problems.

Answer: After a certain point, you start to see that even well-capitalized players are having problems, and I don't think the market is healthy anymore.

Now the market is liquidating these excessive leverage and washing out some players with problematic assets and liabilities. is healthy.

In fact SBF is accepting Reuters interview.

He pointed out that excessive leverage in the market liquidation will cause a liquidity crunch, and the worst moment of the liquidity crunch has passed, and the stabilization of the current market price seems to prove that this point. However, this does not mean that the bear market is over, and the future trend still depends on the impact of the overall economy.

What are the criteria for aiding encryption companies?

Recent lending platform BlockFi Got 2.5 from FTX billion revolving credit facility, while SBF It also expressed its willingness to lend money to other companies before and set a stop loss line for this liquidation crisis.

For this, Julia Chatterley asks:

Question: Dare I say, every day now someone is knocking on your door and yelling, "Hey, are you going to invest in us?"

So you have to pick out the poor, unprofitable, or even insolvent companies from these companies, right?

SBF He said noncommittally that lending money to these companies is not doing charity, so it must be carefully evaluated.

And FTX's criteria is to look for companies that "do business well." These companies only have temporary liquidity problems, so as long as some loans are provided, users of these companies can be protected and systemic crises can be prevented in advance.

Answer: You hit the nail on the head, this (selecting companies) is indeed what we are doing, that is to say, lending money to these companies is not just a bailout. Some of the companies we studied were destined to go bankrupt, and it was right for them to declare bankruptcy.

The key to our selection of companies is those companies with good business performance. Because these loans are only a way to provide them with liquidity in the short to medium term.

At the same time, SBF also clarified some market rumors. It said that in addition to the good health of the company, the most important thing is to protect the users of these good companies, so the mining machine/mining industry is not considered by FTX.

Rumors of FTX bailing out miners have been fueled a lot lately, which is understandable since this is one of the major industries in the crypto space.

But what I want to say is that we are not interested in the field of mining machines. No users in this field need to be protected, because everyone can buy mining machines to fill these computing power. This is not an area with systemic risks.

Will you take advantage of the low point to acquire other companies? Like Coinbase?

According to SEC official Document, SBF purchased 5,600 in May million shares of Robinhood, becoming the company's third-largest shareholder. Although SBF It is denied that FTX has acquisition intentions, but it is unavoidable to arouse daydreams.

SBF Clarify that this is purely an investment. He has a lot of respect for Robinhood founder Vlad Tenev also has the entire team, and has not had any active discussions on acquisitions, but does not deny that there will be other opportunities.

Julia Chatterley thinks it makes sense to buy shares at low points and asks:

Q: Everyone is very interested in your investment in Robinhood. Do you have other objects you want to invest in?

Maybe we can also put (investment) Coinbase into the discussion?

SBF Immediately laughed and denied buying Coinbase.

He pointed out that the current operating conditions of FTX are very good, so whether it is Robinhood or other companies, there is no need to rashly acquire and put themselves in an unfamiliar operating environment . But he also said that he is happy to cooperate with different companies.

Answer: Answering this question will risk spreading rumors, so I don’t intend to start this topic.

But I would say that we have the possibility to cooperate with any company.

Is FTX making money this season?

Coinbase announced its Q1 financial report last month. In the case of halved revenue and increased expenses, the net loss was 4.3 One hundred million U.S. dollars.

Julia Chatterley:

Question: During this period of market turmoil, how is FTX’s trading business Is it profitable?

Because I think that this period of time is also the time when profitability can be used to distinguish good companies, ordinary companies, and bad companies.

The answer is yes. SBF stated that FTX has been profitable for several consecutive quarters, including the most recent quarters. He believes that the key lies in "steady expansion."

Answer: Yes, we did, including the last few seasons, we have been profitable for a period of time.

I think the key to sustainable profitability is steady growth. Of course, I am not saying that expansion is wrong, especially when the time and place are right, but expansion is undoubtedly a risky decision, and it will put oneself in a passive and vulnerable situation. So unless we find a great opportunity and invest it in a way we like, I won't expand easily.

SBF Special mention was made of the expansion of personnel. He said before that although expansion in a bull market is reasonable, after research, he found that when a company expands at a high speed, it will make it difficult to coordinate between departments, and it will also lower the employment standards. Communication sucks, and you end up with no one to communicate, even with rewards.

Going beyond #bitcoin< /a>— @FTX_Official ventures into the payment world.

CEO @SBF_FTX talks #crypto ecosystem and sets the record straight on #FTX's interest in BTC miners, HOOD & COIN.

Part 1 | @firstmove pic.twitter. com/1gw1r1Jg1h

—Julia Chatterley (@jchatterleyCNN) July 6, 2022

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