Expect ‘records broken’ by Bitcoin ETF: Brett Harrison (ex-FTX US), X Hall of Flame
The former president of FTX US dishes the dirt on his falling out with former Jane Street colleague Sam Bankman-Fried and predicts the spot Bitcoin ETF will far outshine the record-breaking success of the Bitcoin Futures ETF.
Who is this guy anyway?
The ex-president of FTX US, Brett Harrison, tells Magazine that he didn’t say a single word to Sam Bankman-Fried during the two-month notice period after he resigned, which was only months before the whole exchange blew up. Even getting a message to SBF to say he was resigning in the first place was hard work.
“I had to talk to other people in the company to formally resign. I wrote one text to Sam and I got back a single heart emoji. That was the last I heard from him,” Harrison declares.
Harrison and Bankman-Fried had been colleagues years earlier at quantitative trading firm Jane Street, where Harrison saw his potential while teaching SBF in a course on programming for traders. But things went south real quick between them at FTX.
Harrison claims it was due to Bankman-Fried’s inflated ego and his reluctance to accept any feedback or advice.
“Sam hated criticism and, as a result, refused to communicate with me. It drove my decision to quit even further,” he says.
Yet, Harrison says he had no clue of the storm about to engulf the company with FTX declaring bankruptcy only a few months after he bailed from the U.S. arm of exchange.
“The rest of us, especially in the U.S., were blindsighted. We were working with regulators, top lawyers, and to have the whole organization fail because of one person’s greed, will stay with us for the rest of our life.”
However, he feels justice was done in the recent fraud trial against his former boss.
“I do feel the result was absolutely just, and I’m glad that justice was served quickly; I think it was essential that Sam was held accountable for his actions,” he declares.
Meanwhile, Harrison wasted no time diving into a new project.
He co-founded Architect.xyz, a DeFi platform that focuses on bridging all the different opportunities in the digital asset space for both institutional and retail investors.
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Harrison is a bit of a brainiac and has a computer science degree focused on artificial intelligence (AI) from Harvard University. So, who better to ask about the potential for AI to take over the world?
“I do not think AI is a threat to humanity,” he declares, pointing out that AI has been in development for much longer than people think:
“Lots of people are now seeing AI for the first time, they don’t appreciate the decades of progress that has gone into it.”
Harrison is more concerned about humans using AI to pull off scams and swipe identities more effortlessly.
“It truly is just linear algebra,” he says. “The idea that linear algebra is some existential threat to our survival just feels somewhat fanciful to people who have been practitioners in the field for a long time.”
What led to Twitter Fame?
Harrison is a smart guy who drops interesting stuff on social media that people seem to dig.
But let’s not dance around the fact that the FTX connection is what blew up his follower numbers, with his count hitting its highest weekly peak when FTX took a nosedive in November 2022, when he gained 2,140 followers, according to data from Social Blade.
Back in January, his long rant about his departure from X got nearly 3 million eyeballs. He said he wasn’t canned from the FTX gig; it just wasn’t his dream job, and SBF was an “insecure, prideful manager.”
Content people can expect
If you scroll through Harrison’s timeline over the years, you’ll notice his glam lifestyle has toned down considerably since the FTX days.
Back then, he was often seen hanging out with celebs and former prime ministers.
Nowadays, it’s way more low-key. Besides throwing in some market talk, Harrison’s been sharing snippets about his family life lately.
He’s even flexing about saving toys from the FTX US office that somehow dodged the whole bankruptcy drama.
What type of content does he like?
Harrison loves the blend of genius and goofiness on Crypto X — getting a daily fix of humor and high intellect.
“One of the things I love about Crypto Twitter is the perfect mix of highly intellectual cerebral, either Market structure or political commentary, and degenerate memes.”
However, when we asked about the accounts he’s into, he’s not that forthcoming.
After doing some light digging, it turns out he’s following 2,100 accounts, and guess who’s in the mix? None other than Bankman-Fried’s pal Tiffany Fong.
Bitcoin predictions?
Harrison used to avoid making predictions, saying he’d never have predicted the events that happened to him. But that was when things were going too smoothly, and that’s all changed.
Harrison declares there is a very “high probability” that a spot Bitcoin ETF will get approved in the first quarter of 2024.
As for price predictions? Harrison isn’t tossing out any six-figure numbers right away.
“In Q1 assuming there is an ETF that’s approved. I think something in the $50,000 to $55,000 range feels pretty probable,” he states.
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He doesn’t see Bitcoin hitting six figures until “toward the end of 2024 or early 2025 at the earliest.”
He points to the first day of Bitcoin Futures ETF as just a little hint of how optimistic he is about the spot Bitcoin ETF:
“If you remember the day when a Bitcoin Futures ETF was listed the inflows were some of the highest ever seen in the history of ETFs. I think we’re going to see even more records broken for a spot Bitcoin ETF.”
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Crypto exchange OKX said volume in its licensed and regulated markets increased 53-fold in 2025, driven by its expansion into the United States and the European Economic Area.
Citing internal data, the exchange said daily active wallets doubled over the past year, with an average of about 190,000 new wallets created each day, while decentralized exchange volume on its platform rose 262% globally and centralized trading increased 16% over the same period.
The company attributed its market growth to an operating model focused on licensed access to regulated markets. OKX expanded across the European Economic Area in January after receiving a license under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, or MiCA.
In the United States, the exchange noted that its April market entry coincided with several positive regulatory developments, including the passage of the GENIUS Act and steps by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to charter crypto-native trust banks.
Data from CoinMarketCap place OKX fourth globally among cryptocurrency exchanges, using rankings that weigh factors such as platform traffic, liquidity, reported trading volume and confidence in volume authenticity.
In December, OKX was among several cryptocurrency exchanges blocked in Belarus after the Ministry of Information restricted access to their global websites, citing violations related to “inappropriate advertising” under the country’s Law on Mass Media.
Related: OKX adds decentralized trading for US users as DEX volumes hit record high
Top exchanges secure licensing in Europe
The MiCA legislation created a single licensing regime for crypto service providers across the bloc and became fully applicable to exchanges in December 2024. Since then, several major platforms have moved to secure approvals that allow them to passport services across the European Economic Area.
In 2025, Bybit received authorization from Austria’s Financial Market Authority and established Vienna as its European headquarters, while Coinbase obtained a MiCA license a month later from Luxembourg and designated the country as its regional base.
Kraken followed with approval from the Central Bank of Ireland, building on earlier MiFID and electronic money licenses, and Gemini secured authorization from Malta’s Financial Services Authority in August, according to regulatory records.
In the US, the passage of the GENIUS Act in July established a federal framework governing stablecoin issuance and use. Since then, the stablecoin market has grown to more than $310 billion, with US dollar–backed tokens Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC) together accounting for about 85% of total supply, according to data from DefiLlama.
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Wyoming Representative Harriet Hageman intensified chatter about a 2026 Senate run by posting a video days after Senator Cynthia Lummis announced she will not seek reelection.
The five-second clip shows the congresswoman alongside a single-word caption: “Soon.” It breaks a months‑long lull on her account and bolsters speculation that she is eyeing Lummis’ open seat.
Wyoming’s Senate seat has been a reliable voice in advancing regulatory clarity for the crypto industry, from market structure bills and stablecoin regulation to banking access. Whoever replaces Lummis will help decide whether crypto keeps a dedicated champion in the Senate.
A crypto ally steps down
Lummis is expected to retire at the end of her term, removing one of the digital‑asset industry’s most outspoken allies from the Senate just as lawmakers edge toward potential votes on landmark market‑structure legislation.
Lummis has built a national profile as a reliable pro‑crypto voice, embracing Bitcoin early and co‑sponsoring legislative efforts widely viewed to advance the blockchain industry, including the Responsible Financial Innovation Act and the ongoing US Clarity Act.
Her pending exit leaves the industry without a guaranteed champion in a chamber that has become increasingly central to decisions on trading‑platform oversight, stablecoin rules and banking access for crypto firms.
Related: Crypto community ‘very sorry’ over Senator Lummis’ reelection decision
Hageman’s record and crypto’s hopes
As Wyoming’s at‑large House member, she has so far focused on broader conservative themes like parental rights in education, opposition to federal overreach and backing pro‑fossil fuel energy policies, while aligning herself with President Donald Trump. A Senate campaign would test how much she is willing to lean into Lummis’ crypto legacy alongside those priorities.
Wyoming’s crypto community is already nudging her in that direction. Caitlin Long, founder of Custodia Bank and a key architect of the state’s blockchain‑friendly laws, praised Hageman as “salt of the earth.” Long was reacting to news of Hageman’s expected entry in the race.
Related: Crypto among sectors ‘debanked’ by 9 major banks: US regulator
Long’s backing effectively introduces Hageman to crypto audiences as the preferred successor, even though the House member has not yet made digital assets a signature focus.
Wyoming’s 2026 Senate race is now poised to double as a test of whether the state wants to preserve its identity as home to the Senate’s most visible crypto advocate, or fold digital asset policy into a broader Trump‑era Republican agenda.
Bybit will begin phasing out services for residents of Japan from 2026, introducing gradual account restrictions as it moves to comply with the country’s regulatory requirements, the cryptocurrency exchange said on Monday.
The exchange said users classified as Japanese residents will be subject to the restrictions on a rolling basis, while those incorrectly flagged have been asked to complete additional identity checks. Bybit is not registered with Japan’s Financial Services Agency, which requires crypto exchanges serving Japanese users to hold local approval.
“If you’re a resident of Japan, please note that starting from 2026 your account will be subject to gradual restrictions. You’ll receive additional updates on the remediation process in subsequent communications,” the exchange said in an announcement on Monday.
Bybit often ranks as the world’s second-largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume. At the time of writing, it processed about $4.3 billion in trades in 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.
Related: Japan plans tough new rules for crypto exchanges: What liability reserves actually mean
Bybit halts new user registrations
The announcement follows earlier steps taken by Bybit to limit its exposure to Japan. In October, the exchange said it would pause new user registrations in Japan, citing ongoing discussions with the country’s Financial Services Agency (FSA).
In February, the FSA asked Apple and Google to suspend downloads of five unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges, including Bybit, MEXC Global, LBank Exchange, KuCoin and Bitget.
Japan maintains one of the world’s strictest crypto oversight regimes. In July, Maksym Sakharov, co-founder and CEO of decentralized onchain bank WeFi, told Cointelegraph that Japan’s regulatory bottleneck is pushing innovation out of the country.
Bybit did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment by press time.
Related: Japan’s new crypto tax could wake ‘sleeping giant’ of retail investors
Bybit reenters the UK
Meanwhile, Bybit is reentering the UK market after a two-year pause with a new platform offering spot trading and a peer-to-peer service, operating under a promotions arrangement approved by Archax rather than its own UK registration.
Last month, Bybit also secured a Virtual Asset Platform Operator License from the Securities and Commodities Authority of the United Arab Emirates, eight months after receiving an in-principle approval from the local regulator.
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