Senate Banking Committee eyes hearing on Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX collapse

A key Senate committee could hold a hearing to investigate the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.

The Senate Banking Committee is “working to schedule a hearing and details are forthcoming,” according to a Democratic committee spokesperson. FTX, once valued at $32 billion, filed for bankruptcy protection last week.

The push to schedule a Senate hearing comes after the House Financial Services Committee announced it will hold a hearing on the FTX collapse in December, including into Binance’s role in the sudden meltdown. At the same time, the beleaguered crypto exchange and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried are under investigation by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. 

“The SEC, DOJ, and CFTC have announced inquiries into FTX’s bankruptcy and Sam Bankman-Fried’s misconduct. The Banking and Housing Committee’s role is to understand the cryptocurrency industry’s structure, as well as look into the broader issue of how cryptocurrencies impact consumers, our markets, and the economy – including the ripple effects of failures like FTX, Voyager, and Celsius,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

It’s not clear when the Senate Banking Committee will schedule its hearing, or who lawmakers may call on to testify.

Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, has long been critical of the crypto industry. Brown warned this week that crypto could “crash our financial system” after FTX fell apart.

Following the publication of this story, in response to a question on Twitter about whether Binance would send a representative to the hearing, CEO Changpeng Zhao said, “No.”

Updated with additional information. 

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