Bahamian Prime Minister Doesn’t Regret FTX

AUSTIN, TEXAS — The collapse of Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX last November hasn’t soured the country’s taste for crypto.

Speaking at CoinDesk’s Consensus 2023 on Thursday, Prime Minister Philip Davis said his country hasn't lost its “zeal for being at the forefront of the digital-assets industry,” despite FTX’s failure and alleged fraud. FTX's headquarters was in the Bahamas at the time of its demise.

Davis also lauded the strength of the Bahamas’ recently overhauled regulatory framework and pushed back against widespread sentiments that FTX’s alleged fraud went undiscovered for a long time because of lax regulations in the Bahamas.

Read full coverage of Consensus 2023 here.

The prime minister said that the “events, which led to the collapse of FTX,” had nothing to do with Bahamian laws and that any assertion to the contrary was “inconsistent with the facts.”

In fact, Davis said that, while the collapse of FTX was a disappointment and a “shock,” he wouldn’t change the past.

“I don’t think we would have done anything different than we did,” Davis said, when asked whether he felt he had been tricked by former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. “[Sam Bankman-Fried] put my jurisdiction on the map.”

Davis said the country’s new crypto regulations seek to provide regulatory clarity to crypto companies, which he hopes will bring more companies to the island nation.

“When it comes to the digital-assets sector, we are open for business,” Davis said. “If you are looking for a jurisdiction where you can confidently invest, look no further than the Bahamas.”