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FTX Trading CEO Sam Bankman-Fried noted in a recent interview with Bloomberg that most tokens work as money printing boxes. The businessman criticized the promise that some crypto market projects offer in a quest to transform the world.

Sam Bankman-Fried compared crypto assets to a shell game, where boxes are created with the appearance of “a life-changing protocol”. He further said that some projects claim that they can change the banking system with their supposed crypto innovation.

“A company builds a box, and in practice, they probably dress it up to look like a life-changing protocol that, you know, will change the world and will replace all the big banks in 38 days or something. So maybe, for now, you ignore what it does or pretend it does nothing literally. It’s just a box.”

Boxes that print money

Crypto asset projects gain value as they present decentralized financial solutions. However, according to Sam Bankman-Fried, they create ways to produce income for users, and they function as boxes that print money.

This profit-making process takes place in different ways and can involve transforming crypto assets into other digital currencies. In addition, these projects can print more tokens, with the promise of distributing programs known as airdrops.

Sam explains that another way to grant profit happens through staking and farming programs, where anyone can create their box. On the other hand, crypto assets also carry intrinsic value, related to the stories behind projects that promise innovation, yield, and the solution to financial market inefficiencies.

Therefore, crypto asset are not just empty boxes. Because they represent a luxury good, the hype behind the project and the community involvement can add value to a token.