FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried and Brett Harrison Respond to FDIC’s Allegations of ‘False Statements’

Top executives at crypto exchange giant FTX are responding to allegations of misleading statements from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tells his 761,000 Twitter followers the crypto exchange platform is not FDIC-insured and that only the banks they work with are.

On Thursday, the FDIC issued a cease-and-desist order to the crypto exchange, saying that they were misleading customers into believing the products they offer were FDIC-insured.

Bankman-Fried also notes that he’s not against working with the FDIC to insure deposits in the future.

“Clear communication is really important; sorry! FTX does not have FDIC insurance (and we’ve never said so on website etc.); banks we work with do. We never meant otherwise, and apologize if anyone misinterpreted it.

We’re also excited to explore potential ways that individual accounts using direct deposit (which we now support) could, in the future, be used to further protect customers, and would be excited to work with the FDIC on that, but to be clear FTX US isn’t FDIC insured.”

FTX.US president Brett Harrison says that his previous statements that were under fire from the FDIC weren’t intended to mislead investors. He also says he’s complying with the FDIC’s order to delete the tweets.

“We really didn’t mean to mislead anyone, and we didn’t suggest that FTX US itself, or that crypto/non-fiat assets, benefit from FDIC insurance. I hope this provides clarity on our intentions. Happy to work directly with the FDIC on these important topics.

Per the FDIC’s instruction I deleted the tweet. The tweet was written in response to questions raised on Twitter regarding whether direct USD deposits from employers were held at insured banks (i.e. Evolve Bank).”

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