United States Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Durbin wrote to the former and current CEOs of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried and John Jay Ray III, respectively, on Nov. 16 to ask for more information on the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. They made 13 requests for documents, lists and answers. “The public is owed a complete and transparent accounting of the business practices and financial activities leading up to and following FTX’s collapse,” the lawmakers wrote. They provided a summary of the major press coverage of the unfolding events and reconstructed a timeline from the media sources. Noting “the apparent lack …

FTX declared bankruptcy this month with $900 million in assets against $9 billion in liabilities. Its founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, is being questioned by police in the Bahamas, and many customers are unable to withdraw their deposits. Its holdings of Serum’s SRM, a token Bankman-Fried developed, dropped from a value of more than $2 billion to less than $100 million. Things got worse over the weekend after FTX was apparently hacked, leading to the loss of an additional several hundred million. Some commentators are already calling it cryptocurrency’s “Lehman moment,” referring to the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers …

California Representative Brad Sherman, who repeatedly called for a ban on U.S. residents buying crypto, accused leaders at several financial agencies of parroting former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s ideas on regulating digital assets. In a Nov. 16 hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Sherman directed his remarks to Federal Reserve vice chair of supervision Michael Barr, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation acting chair Martin Gruenberg, National Credit Union Administration chair Todd Harper, and acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu. The U.S. lawmaker suggested the four regulatory heads had done little to address “crypto billionaire bros” using digital assets for …

Members of the United States’ House Financial Services Committee have scheduled a December hearing aimed at exploring the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and “broader consequences for the digital asset ecosystem.” In a Nov. 16 announcement, the House committee said it expected to hear from individuals and companies involved in the events which led to the FTX Group filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, including former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried — also known as SBF — Alameda Research, and Binance. It’s unclear whether Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who has also been vocal on social media about his discussions with SBF and …

Almost 4,000 people have used a CryptoLaw petition app to demand that Congress investigate United States Securities and Exchange Commission head Gary Gensler’s “actions in the FTX fraud,” the organization claimed in a tweet on the morning of Nov. 14. The CryptoLaw website is run by lawyer John Deaton, who is representing Ripple against the SEC and contributes frequently to the public discourse on the case. The petition reads, in part: “Evidence has emerged that proves that Gensler met with […] [FTX CEO] Sam Bankman-Fried, before the $14 billion collapse of FTX. Members of Congress have already been informed that …

United States congressman Brad Sherman, a known crypto skeptic, has pointed the finger at “billionaire crypto bros” for slowing down much-needed cryptocurrency regulation. In a Nov. 13 statement addressing the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, Sherman said the exchange’s implosion has demonstrated the need for regulators to take immediate and aggressive action: “The sudden collapse this week of one of the largest cryptocurrency firms in the world has been a dramatic demonstration of both the inherent risks of digital assets and the critical weaknesses in the industry that has grown up around them.” “For years I have advocated for Congress …

United States senators Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman have doubled down on their commitment to publishing a final version of the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act 2022 (DCCPA) in the wake of FTX’s shocking collapse. For a short time, the cryptocurrency community wasn’t sure how the senators would respond to the FTX crisis — as the DCCPA bill is understood to have been strongly supported by FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. But the members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry confirmed their intentions in a Nov. 10 statement — stating “the events that have transpired this week …

Tom Emmer, the recently re-elected Republican lawmaker representing Minnesota’s 6th district in the United States House of Representatives, has alleged Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler had been helping FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to gain a “regulatory monopoly” through the crypto firm. In a Nov. 10 tweet, Emmer criticized Gensler for “run[ning] to the media” amid FTX’s liquidity issues causing ripples throughout the crypto market. According to the Republican lawmaker, his team was looking into the SEC chair’s alleged collaboration with Bankman-Fried and FTX, but only cited reports presented to his office as evidence without providing details. Interesting. @GaryGensler …

Maxine Waters, chair of the United States House of Representatives’ Financial Services Committee, pushed for additional federal oversight of crypto trading platforms and consumer protection amid FTX facing liquidity issues. In a Nov. 10 statement, Waters cited FTX’s difficulties as the latest example of incidents “involving the collapse of cryptocurrency companies” and how such events could potentially impact consumers in the United States. The committee chair pushed for legislation establishing a framework for crypto assets, highlighting her efforts with Financial Services Committee ranking member Patrick McHenry in a bill aimed at regulating stablecoins. “Although FTX’s U.S.-facing company is reportedly operational, …

Results from many election races for seats in the United States Senate and House of Representatives are still coming in, but a number of candidates who have expressed staunch views on digital asset regulation won on Nov. 8. Some of crypto’s most outspoken supporters at the local and federal level, including Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, had no elections in November 2022, but others defended challenges to congressional seats with both narrow and wide margin victories. Pro-crypto House incumbents including Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer and North Carolina Minnesota Representative Patrick McHenry won re-election, as did crypto …

A senior FTX executive has been revealed as the reported mystery donor behind a massive $500,000 contribution to the Democratic Party of the American state of Oregon. According to local reports, the Oregon Democrats initially told state election officials that the $500,000 donation was from Prime Trust, a crypto-focused fintech in Nevada. However, on Nov. 1, the party director revealed the true source behind the donation was FTX Engineering Director Nishad Singh, who has been the state Democratic Party's fourth largest donor since Nov. 2020. Apparently, there was initial confusion about who was behind the half-a-million-dollar donation. State party executive …

Several Democratic members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives have requested information from top regulators and agencies in the country regarding crypto firms hiring government officials upon their departure. In letters dated Oct. 24 to the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 5 U.S. lawmakers asked for a response in regards to the steps the government departments and agencies were taking “to stop the revolving door” between themselves and the crypto …