Sam Bankman-Fried to Testify Before US Congress...but With a Twist

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has announced he will testify before the United States Congress after taking time to review the implosion of his cryptocurrency exchange.

 The House Financial Services Committee invited Bankman-Fried to testify at a Dec. 13 hearing. However, the former CEO is planning on doing it at his own pace.

He said on Twitter, "Once I have finished learning and reviewing what happened, I would feel like it was my duty to appear before the committee and explain. I'm not sure that will happen by the 13th. But when it does, I will testify."

Bankman-Fried wrote the tweet in reply to Maxine Waters, the Democratic congresswoman who chairs the committee, after she invited him to appear at a hearing scheduled to examine FTX’s collapse. In addition to that, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., who is likely to chair the committee next year, also pressed Bankman-Fried to appear at the hearing.

The US House Financial Services Committee also expects to hear from companies and individuals involved in the collapse on December 13.

It is important to note that SBF denied during a conference organized by the New York Times and CNBC on Wednesday last week that he had ever intended to defraud anyone while acknowledging he had made a “lot of mistakes” in his handling of the crypto company.

He added that he had no knowledge of being the subject of a criminal investigation and denied using investors’ funds for affiliated trading firm Alameda.

He also said he had rejected advice from his lawyer to stay silent as he felt he had “a duty to explain what happened”.