FTX Founder to Testify Before the Congress and the SEC Chief on Tuesday

12. Dec 2022 Posted by Akolkar B on News

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has finally agreed to testify before the U.S. House Committee of Tuesday, December 13. Last week, Congress woman Maxine Waters had asked SBF to testify and explain what events led to the dramatic collapse of the FTX exchange last month.

However, the FTX founder responded that he wasn’t ready for now and would testify in the future. But Maxine Waters said that she was ready to subpoena Sam Bankman-Fried if he didn’t agree to appear before the panel, and this hearing will be part of their probe into FTX.

A day later on Friday, the panel said that they would be hearing from from newly appointed FTX CEO John Ray and from Bankman-Fried as part of "Investigating the Collapse of FTX”.

It’s not clear whether the FTX founder is willing to travel to Washington D.C. for the hearings. However, he’s been given the option to testify remotely from The Bahamas. In his statement on Twitter on Friday, SBF wrote: "I still do not have access to much of my data - professional or personal. So there is a limit to what I will be able to say, and I won't be as helpful as I'd like. But as the committee still thinks it would be useful, I am willing to testify on the 13th”.

The hearing will start on Tuesday, December 13, 10AM Easter Time (ET). Some sources familiar with the matter said that the U.S. authorities have been seeking information from investors in FTX. So far, the prosecutors and regulators haven’t charged SBF with any crime.

The officials at the U.S. Justin Department met last week to examine if SBF or FTX had transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to The Bahamas just around the same time when the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy last month on November 11. As FTX filed for bankruptcy, traders had pulled out a staggering $6 billion capital from the exchange in just three days.

In another development, SBF told the BBC that he’s willing to start a new business and compensate all those who have lost everything because of FTX. Some former colleagues at FTX have said that SBF isn’t telling the truth behind what led to the collapse of the crypto exchange. However, SBF has denied these allegations.

It will be interesting to see as to what details will SBF share in his testimony to the Congress on Tuesday.