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CME Group CEO comments on FTX incident during interview, blurts out: "I bribed the CFTC"

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CME Group CEO comments on FTX incident during interview, blurts out: "I bribed the CFTC"

During an interview with Fox News, CME Group CEO Terry Duffy discussed the FTX collapse, indirectly criticizing the SEC's incompetence. However, he mistakenly said "I asked the CFTC" as "I bribed the CFTC."

Early Ties with FTX

The ties between CME and FTX were actually established quite early. FTX.US applied to the CFTC in March this year, seeking to offer futures and options contracts in a non-intermediary model, where the clearing of trades does not need to go through a futures commission merchant (FCM) and users can directly access margin products.

This raised concerns among various stakeholders at a hearing in May, including those from the CME Group, the National Futures Association, and the CEO of the futures commission merchant R.J. O’Brien.

CME Group CEO Terry Duffy, in an interview after the collapse of FTX, bluntly stated that this was simply a fraud case. Not only on Fox News, but Terry Duffy has recently appeared on various major programs to defend the position of the CME Group. In a CNBC interview, he made similar remarks.

A Complete Fraud

Terry Duffy stated:

I really don't understand why no one saw this coming. I told my team, this is not just about the crypto space, SBF wants to change the world, to trade all assets on a fraudulent platform. The crypto market is small, but he will deploy this model in the U.S. securities and agricultural markets. Can you imagine the harm this would cause to the United States?

He then criticized that politicians, businessmen, and regulatory agencies seem to have been blinded, including the former CFTC commissioner Mark Wetjen joining FTX.US as an advisor.

Did I Bribe the CFTC?

The host asked, what exactly are the regulatory agencies doing about the FTX incident?

Terry Duffy unexpectedly blurted out:

I don't know what Gary Gensler is doing, but I previously bribed, I asked... I bribed.... I asked the regulatory agency I belong to, the CFTC, why are you applying the Commodity Exchange Act to the crypto market? Are you being pressured by politicians?

Terry Duffy's slip of the tongue has gone viral on Twitter, and popular Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) have retweeted this news.