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FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried can not promise when he will appear before the United States Congress to testify on the collapse of his multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency exchange, but he agreed to make the appearance after he has reviewed the circumstances on how the events unfolded.

“Once I have finished learning and reviewing what happened, I would feel like it was my duty to appear before the committee and explain,” the former FTX CEO wrote on Twitter.

“I’m not sure that will happen by the 13th.  But when it does, I will testify.”

He was responding to a polite tweet by Maxine Waters, the Democratic congresswoman who chairs the Financial Services Committee.

“We appreciate that you’ve been candid in your discussions about what happened at FTX. Your willingness to talk to the public will help the company’s customers, investors and others.

“To that end, we would welcome your participation in our hearing on the 13^th.”

Last month the committee announced it wanted to meet directly with Bankman-Fried and his executive team stating that the collapse of FTX  harmed a million users who invested “their hard-earned savings” into the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, “only to watch it all disappear within a matter of seconds.”

But Water’s latest tweet requesting Bankman-Fried’s presence drew strong criticism with some users stating that it appears not to hold Bankman-Fried accountable for the billions of dollars in customer funds lost on his platform.

Jake Chervinsky said, “I am certain that factfinding will show that SBFTX has not in fact been candid in his discussions. He committed fraud, full stop.”

Another said, “Imagine stealing Bernie Madoff-level money and being politely asked to participate in a congressional hearing. This is what corruption looks like.”

And another social media user said, “I hope folks are paying attention to all of this, eyes open. The entire system is corrupt on all levels.”

Many speculate that Bankman-Fried will not be held accountable since he was the second largest donor of the Democratic party contributing nearly $30 million to the party’s primary elections and was reported to have given $5 million to President Joe Biden’s campaign when he ran for the post against Trump.

Authorities in the USA and the Bahamas said they are investigating the handling of customer funds believed to be misappropriated when Bankman-Fried borrowed billions of dollars from FTX to use in his sister company Alameda Research.

Former crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried, who was once the CEO of Bahamas-based exchange FTX was called to Capitol Hill to testify of his dealings in the $32 billion empire that collapsed into bankruptcy.

Lawmakers on the House Finance Services Committee will meet directly with Bankman-Fried and his executive team next month to discuss the failed cryptocurrency exchange and his purported mishandling of billions of dollars.

“The fall of FTX has posed tremendous harm to over one million users, many of whom were everyday people who invested their hard-earned savings into the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, only to watch it all disappear within a matter of seconds,” Chairwoman Maxine Waters said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, this event is just one out of many examples of cryptocurrency platforms that have collapsed just this past year.”

Cryptocurrency has long been considered a volatile industry but Bankman-Fried hailed a crypto genius, helped to restore faith in the market before the second biggest exchange imploded last week.

Bankman-Fried lost about 14 billion dollars overnight and his empire fell from a $32 billion valuation to bankruptcy. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas also froze his assets.

Bankman-Fried has had several FTX offices in the USA. He stepped down last week as CEO of the company.

“It’s essential that we hold bad actors accountable so responsible players can harness technology to build a more inclusive financial system,” Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-NC) said.

Protesters supporting Donald Trump swarmed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, putting it on lockdown, as Vice President Mike Pence rebuffed the president’s demand to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden and the Senate’s Republican leader denounced a bid in Congress to undo the election outcome.

Trump supporters overturned barricades and clashed with police on the U.S. Capitol grounds and streamed inside the building. The demonstrations flared as lawmakers met inside to formally certify Biden’s victory over Trump in the Nov. 3 election. Law enforcement authorities struggled to maintain order.

The Senate and the House of Representatives, which were weighing objections to Biden’s victory brought by a band of pro-Trump Republican lawmakers, abruptly and unexpectedly recessed.

Source: Reuters

Featured Image: Business Insider