Share this article
Senate Committee to Subpoena FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried if He Does Not Testify Voluntarily
The Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees are holding hearings on FTX's collapse next week.
By Nikhilesh De
Updated Dec 8, 2022, 11:23 p.m. Published Dec 8, 2022, 12:35 a.m.
The Senate Banking Committee wants Sam Bankman-Fried to appear before it next week in person to discuss the collapse of FTX, and will subpoena him if he does not appear voluntarily, a letter from its leaders said Wednesday.
Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), respectively the chair and ranking member of the committee, wrote a public letter to Bankman-Fried, who resigned from the exchange the same day it filed for bankruptcy protection last month. The committee is holding a hearing on Wednesday, Dec. 14, a day after the House Financial Services Committee holds its own hearing on the exchange.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
“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," the lawmakers said in a prepared statement. "The Committee has requested that he testify at our upcoming hearing on FTX’s collapse, and will consider further action if he does not comply.”
Normally, witnesses appear voluntarily, the lawmakers said in the letter. If Bankman-Fried does not confirm his participation by Thursday, "I am prepared, along with Ranking Member Pat Toomey, to issue a subpoena to compel your testimony," the letter signed by Brown said.
House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters has also invited Bankman-Fried to testify, saying in a tweet Wednesday that she may also seek to subpoena him if he does not appear voluntarily.
Bankman-Fried has gone on a press tour since the bankruptcy, speaking to numerous reporters. He has not provided any concrete answers about how FTX appeared to send billions in customer funds to Alameda Research, another company he founded and was a majority owner of, saying he was unsure how it happened and implying that others were responsible for the fund movements.
He now faces a number of investigations, including an investigation by federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, who are investigating whether Bankman-Fried may have tried to manipulate the price of TerraUSD and Luna, which collapsed in their own dramatic fashion earlier this year, according to the New York Times.
UPDATE (Dec. 8, 2022, 00:51 UTC): Adds additional detail.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
U.S. Senate's Crypto Market Structure Bill Gets Messy as Calendar Weighs Down
The White House has shut down proposals, and lawmakers are circulating the Democrats' asks in what had been a close negotiation, revealing 11th-hour pressure.
What to know:
- Democrats shared a response to Republicans outlining their continuing priorities for a crypto market structure bill, which they said was intended to "reach an agreement and proceed towards a mark-up."
- The document laid out concerns with financial stability, market integrity and public officials' ability to trade and profit off of crypto, echoing concerns laid out in a framework Democrats shared in September.
- The Senate is running out of time in the Congressional calendar to hold a markup hearing — a key step toward progressing the bill — before 2025 ends.
Top Stories
