Sam Bankman-Fried misses deadline to respond to Senate Committee hearing

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-bankrupt FTX exchange, has missed the deadline set by the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs to confirm his appearance at an upcoming hearing.

See related article: Mark Karpeles on SBF

Fast facts

• Bankman-Fried’s counsel failed to respond by the imposed deadline (Thursday, Dec. 8, 5 p.m. Eastern Time), the Senate Committee said in a statement, according to Bloomberg. This failure to respond introduces the possibility of a congressional subpoena. 
• Sherrod Brown, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Committee Senator Pat Toomey released a joint statement on Dec. 8. 
• “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,” said Brown and Toomey. “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.”
• The hearing, titled “Crypto Crash: Why the FTX Bubble Burst and the Harm to Consumers” will be live-streamed on Dec. 14, according to the Committee’s official website.
• Two witnesses have been confirmed to attend the hearing so far: American University Washington College of Law professor Hilary J. Allen and actor Ben McKenzie Schenkkan.
• Ryan Selkis, founder of crypto intelligence firm Messari, has criticized the Committee’s witness selection, calling the hearing a “complete goat rodeo and mockery of the system.” Selkis added: “I offered to go even though it would have been a distraction, but instead the Senate opted for the former child star of The OC [serial drama] and a ‘never crypto’ academic.”

See related article: FTX failure a ‘wake-up call’ for security, says former Mt Gox CEO Mark Karpeles