Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-bankrupt FTX exchange, has missed the deadline set by the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs to confirm his appearance at an upcoming hearing.
See related article: Mark Karpeles on SBF
Fast facts
- Bankman-Fried’s counsel failed to respond by the imposed deadline (Thursday, Dec. 8, 5 p.m. Eastern Time), the Senate Committee said in a statement, according to Bloomberg. This failure to respond introduces the possibility of a congressional subpoena.
- “FTX’s collapse has caused real financial harm to consumers, and effects have spilled over into other parts of the crypto industry. The American people need answers about Sam Bankman-Fried’s misconduct at FTX,” said a joint statement by Sherrod Brown, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Committee Senator Pat Toomey.
- “The Committee has requested that he testify at our upcoming hearing [on Dec. 14] on FTX’s collapse, and will consider further action if he does not comply,” the statement added.
- Two witnesses have been confirmed to attend the hearing so far: American University Washington College of Law professor Hilary J. Allen and actor Ben McKenzie Schenkkan.
- Ryan Selkis, founder of crypto intelligence firm Messari, has criticized the Committee’s witness selection, calling the hearing a “complete goat rodeo and mockery of the system.” Selkis added: “I offered to go even though it would have been a distraction, but instead the Senate opted for the former child star of The OC [serial drama] and a ‘never crypto’ academic.”
- On Friday, Bankman-Fried tweeted that he is “willing to testify on the 13th,” in a separate hearing requested by House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters, despite alleging that he does not “have access to much of my data – professional or personal.”
See related article: FTX failure a ‘wake-up call’ for security, says former Mt Gox CEO Mark Karpeles
