FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has announced he will testify before the United States Congress after taking time to review the implosion of his cryptocurrency exchange.
Bankman-Fried said on Sunday he would appear before the US House Committee on Financial Services after he “finished learning and reviewing” the events that led to FTX filing for bankruptcy last month.
“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.”
Bankman-Fried wrote the tweet in reply to Maxine Waters, the Democratic congresswoman who chairs the committee, after she invited him to appear at a hearing scheduled to examine FTX’s collapse.
The US House Financial Services Committee expects to hear from companies and individuals involved in the collapse, which sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency sector, on December 13.
Bankman-Fried, who once ranked among the world’s richest men, last week denied he had ever intended to defraud anyone while acknowledging he had made a “lot of mistakes” in his handling of the crypto company.
Speaking at a conference organised by the New York Times and CNBC on Wednesday, Bankman-Fried said he had no knowledge of being the subject of a criminal investigation and denied “knowingly” commingling investors’ funds with affiliated trading firm Alameda.
He also said he had rejected advice from his lawyer to stay silent as he felt he had “a duty to explain what happened”.
FTX, which was valued at $32bn at its peak, filed for bankruptcy protection last month after the collapse of an acquisition deal involving rival exchange Binance prompted billions in withdrawals from customers.
