Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of , said that the reason the major exchange did not invest in the much-talked-about Elon Musk Twitter takeover is the crypto-related difference in visions for the social network.
The CEO tweeted on November 3,
"We passed on Twitter b/c it didn't seem like our strengths were what was needed for Elon's vision for Twitter."
He gave an example of working on blockchain-based social media, or blockchain wallets and payments, which Bankman-Fried said FTX would have been "excited" to work on, adding: "and who knows, maybe he [Musk] still will [work on that]."
That said, the CEO said that Twitter got "strong leadership" with Musk's takeover. "We're excited for Elon to execute *his* vision for it," he said.
In an interview with Forbes, he added that there are a lot of "open" and "tough" questions to be answered when it comes to the Twitter acquisition but that there is "a ton of upside" in what Musk is doing.
Bankman-Fried explained that,
"He's got a vision for what he wants to do with Twitter. And I think it's an exciting vision. It's not exactly the same as my vision would be - that's okay, it doesn't have to be - and ultimately I view this as is it the case that our visions here are complementary and that there is really something that I can add to it? I don't think that ended up being the case [or the opportunity where] it made sense for us to get involved."
Finally, he added that the exchange's decision revolves around crypto-related opportunities, saying:
"We ended up passing because ultimately, we were checking [...] is this something where you're looking for a crypto partner to help with Web3 payments and things like this," suggesting that currently this may not be the case.
Three days later, he shortly commented on Musk's controversial blue checkmark decision, arguing that it helps remove scammers.
Meanwhile, Bnakman-Fried recently also admitted to being a "significant donor" to both the Republican and Democratic parties in the USA ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, saying that he has been "supporting constructive candidates across the aisle to prevent pandemics and bring a bipartisan climate to DC."
"If you want to contribute crypto, reach out to your elected officials and ask if they accept it; FTX is happy to sign them up," he wrote.
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