United States Senators Elizabeth Warren and Charles Grassley are demanding that Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Rostin Benham disclose details of his interactions with disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried prior to the exchange’s collapse. The senators requested a full accounting of all meetings, phone calls, and written correspondence between Benham and Bankman-Fried, as well as a timeline of the commission’s knowledge of the cryptocurrency scheme involving Bankman-Fried, Alameda Research, and former executives of the now-defunct crypto exchange.
According to Benham’s testimony to the Senate Agriculture Committee in November 2022, he reportedly met with Bankman-Fried approximately 10 times over a 14-month period and exchanged messages with him. Bankman-Fried was recently sentenced to 25 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $11 billion for his role in a massive crypto scam that saw nearly $8 billion worth of customer funds misused. Elizabeth Warren and Charles Grassley believe that uncovering the details of the interactions between Benham and Bankman-Fried is crucial to understanding how such a multi-billion-dollar crime was allowed to happen.
Senator Josh Hawley had previously written a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, and Benham demanding they reveal their correspondence with top Democratic Party officials in relation to the FTX scandal. Bankman-Fried has been criticized for his apparent attempts to influence high-profile regulatory officials, including Gensler, in order to maintain the favor of regulatory agencies. Despite privately admitting that his concerns about crypto regulation were just for public relations, Bankman-Fried has filed to appeal his guilty verdict.
The latest letter from Warren and Grassley to Benham signifies a renewed interest in uncovering potential ties between government officials and Bankman-Fried. The senators are seeking transparency and accountability in order to understand how a crime of such magnitude was allowed to occur and to prevent similar incidents in the future. The demand for information about the interactions between Benham and Bankman-Fried highlights the importance of regulatory oversight and the need for thorough investigations into financial crimes.
The involvement of high-profile figures such as Warren, Grassley, and Hawley in this investigation further underscores the seriousness of the situation and the implications it has for both the crypto industry and regulatory oversight. The demand for a full accounting of meetings, correspondence, and conversations between Benham and Bankman-Fried reflects a commitment to uncovering the truth and holding those responsible for financial crimes accountable. The outcome of this investigation could have far-reaching implications for the regulation of the cryptocurrency market and could shape future policies to prevent similar fraudulent activities from occurring in the future.
