Opinion | Sam Bankman-Fried and the SEC

Sam Bankman-Fried charmed investors and politicians, but he wasn’t so fortunate with a federal jury. On Thursday the former FTX crypto-exchange kingpin was convicted of seven counts of fraud and money-laundering. Note to Chairman Gary Gensler: The Securities and Exchange Commission doesn’t need to regulate crypto markets to police malfeasance.

After FTX imploded last autumn, some $9 billion in customer deposits went missing. Prosecutors showed that Mr. Bankman-Fried used the money to fund risky investment bets and cover losses at his Alameda Research trading house, buy influence in Washington, and acquire real estate in the Bahamas.