(Bloomberg) -- Monetary policy and inflation have been the primary drivers behind this year’s slide in cryptocurrency prices, according to FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried. 

“Dollars are up this year,” Bankman-Fried said during a broadcast at the SALT conference in New York on Monday. “This is the year of policy change.”

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, has declined about 50% this year. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index has climbed about 10% during the same period as the Federal Reserve raises borrowing rates in an attempt to slow inflation. 

Bankman-Fried, who runs one of the world’s largest crypto-trading platforms, said he remains optimistic about digital assets because “more regulatory clarity is coming.” That will help to “unlock the asset class” for a number of institutions who want to get involved in the sector, he said. 

The venture capital unit of FTX announced last week that it is taking a 30% stake in Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital. Scaramucci interviewed Bankman-Fried via video for the conference, which is sponsored by SkyBridge.   

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