Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former chief executive officer of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, tweeted on Monday morning Hong Kong time that he may not testify before the U.S. Congress on Dec. 13.
See related article: Sam Bankman-Fried points blame for FTX collapse to Alameda, says he was blindsided
Fast facts
- Bankman-Fried was responding to an invitation from House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters to testify at the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services hearing on Dec. 13.
- “Once I have finished learning and reviewing what happened, I would feel like it was my duty to appear before the committee and explain,” Bankman-Fried tweeted. “I’m not sure that will happen by the 13th. But when it does, I will testify.”
- “Translation: he doesn’t mind lying to Andrew Ross Sorkin or George Stephanopoulos, but lying to Congress under oath is less appealing,” Jake Chervinsky, lobby group Blockchain Association’s head of policy, said, reacting to Bankman-Fried’s tweet.
- Bankman-Fried made public appearances and comments last week, which he claims goes against his legal team’s advice.
- On Wednesday, the disgraced founder said at the New York Times DealBook Summit that he “didn’t knowingly commingle funds,” in response to allegations of Alameda Research, FTX’s brokerage arm, trading with customer deposits.
- Since then, Bankman-Fried has given multiple interviews and joined live panel discussions hosted publicly on Twitter.
See related article: Sam Bankman-Fried says not aware of any improper use of funds in FTX downfall