Memecoins capitalise on investors’ need for novelty and variety, the CEO stated
Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried explained that while increasing mainstream regulatory attention on cryptocurrencies was helping popularise digital assets, it is the steadily increasing institutional and retail adoption that is driving crypto’s current price rise.
The comments by Bankman-Fried come amid increasing regulatory scrutiny on cryptocurrency trading and mining in many parts of the world.
In an interview with Bloomberg Markets, Bankman-Fried stated that how much crypto companies will spend on regulatory upkeep will all depend on the details of these upcoming regulators and revealed that FTX expects to spend at least $1 billion on build-outs related to regulation and compliance.
Speaking about if Bitcoin’s lack of movement after reaching a high two weeks ago is a sign of falling momentum, Bankman-Fried stated that the 10% rise after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved the trading of the US’ first Bitcoin futures ETF cannot be considered insignificant.
“I think a further price movement is probably pending further news,” Bankman-Fried told in an in.
The executive also stated that the extremely large cycles of media coverage for memecoins like Shiba Inu or Squid games led to their popularity in the crypto community.
“For most people, these are the cryptocurrencies they hear the most about, the most covered and thus they are most likely to invest in them,” the CEO stated, adding that memecoins also attract investors looking for novelty and variety in the crypto market.
Addressing the growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies in traditional financial trading systems, Bankman-Fried revealed that many investment firms have asked FTX for talent recommendations as firms on Wall Street are now looking to have at least one person who understands the crypto ecosystem.
However, this does not mean that crypto companies were competing with Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan for talent, Bankman-Fried clarified.
