Amid Tightening Regulations: SBF Explains FTX’s In-Depth KYC Process

In light of recent regulatory scrutiny on the entire industry from global watchdogs, digital asset exchanges have attempted to enhance their efforts in order to comply with emerging legislation. The latest to outline its strategy is FTX, as the company’s CEO explained.

FTX’s KYC/AML Endeavors

The cryptocurrency space saw massive growth in the past year or so, and somewhat expectedly, its highly unregulated nature caught the attention of global watchdogs. Centralized digital asset exchanges, a crucial part of the entire ecosystem, were among those to face regulatory scrutiny in numerous countries.

While those nations dabble with what types of legislative frameworks to implement, as some might be a bit too harsh for such businesses, the larger exchanges have tried to stay a step ahead. FTX aims to be one of them, according to a recent Twitter post by the CEO – Sam Bankman-Fried.

He explained that the popular trading venue has been “working in the background” on “finding more systems we can add to our KYC process.” More precisely, he clarified that FTX added a feature enabling it to check its users’ phone numbers against their submitted names in the first step of the know-your-customer process.

In case this fails, the platform will require a subsequent step to “access some features of the site.” Those include futures trading, which the company recently reduced to 20x, as reported.

Bankman-Fried, who recently said he spends about five hours per day dealing with regulators, also promised that the firm will “continue searching for more tools to confirm identity, hopefully, while minimizing the hassle for users.” Additionally, FTX will “always” keep allowing withdrawals, except in cases of suspected illegal activities.

5) And, as always, our users’ funds and safety come first.

We will always allow withdrawals (except in cases of suspected money laundering/theft/etc.).

And we require 2FA/etc. for all accounts to help prevent theft.

— SBF (@SBF_FTX) August 9, 2021

FTX’s Expansion

The exchange, spearheaded by SBF, has been at the forefront of the bull market in terms of growth. It made numerous notable collaborations, starting with a $135 million deal to put its name on the Miami Heat Arena. Shortly after, FTX continued its expansion in the world of sports through a partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB).

It completed the US sports cycle after the American Football legend Tom Brady and his wife took an equity stake, in which they will receive a certain amount paid in cryptocurrencies.

Most recently, FTX closed a record funding round worth $900 million. Consequently, its total valuation grew to around $18 billion.