FTX exchanges CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has announced that users who contribute to at least one political party, campaign, or candidate will have their funds confiscated by the exchange.
According to a blog post published on FTX’s website on Monday, Bankman-Fried wrote: “We deeply regret this decision, but in order to further our commitment to being politically neutral, we have decided that we must take action against any users who support political parties or candidates for public office.”
The CEO went on to explain why this decision was taken: “If you have donated more than $500 total since our launch in 2010 (all donations regardless of affiliation), your wallet will be confiscated by FTX and converted into UXT tokens. This includes all donations made prior to today’s announcement as well as any future contributions from now through election day.”
FTX Users Warned
Bankman-Fried said that FTX had always been non-partisan, but the recent Twitter hack revealed an important flaw in the exchange’s approach to politics. “We will follow up by donating any funds remaining in our bank account and closing our political action committee (PAC) accounts. We have also decided not to donate any additional funds this election cycle or ever again unless there is a significant change in overall policy direction by any candidate or party we support.”
FTX had not taken any action regarding other campaigns.
Certain politicians have been outspoken about banning cryptocurrencies entirely.
This is clearly a problem.
Bankman-Fried also noted that while initially donating funds to various causes could be satisfying and even profitable, in the long term it would have terrible consequences for the firm. The executive cited instances where foreign governments could use lawsuits to seize exchange assets as a consequence of donations made by users.
Perhaps most importantly, he warned that any donation could lead to a loss of reputation, which in turn would result in lost business and legal fees.
The company is currently working on several initiatives aimed at making positive contributions to society while also protecting its interests.
