Kevin Helms
A student of Austrian economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the intersection of finance and cryptography.
Maxine Waters Criticized for Praising SBF – Legislator Says “We Appreciate You Being Honest” – Regulation Bitcoin News
Congresswoman Maxine Waters has come under fire for saying she appreciates former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) being honest in her discussions about the collapse of his crypto exchange, FTX. – SBF has not actually been honest in its discussions. He committed fraud, period,” emphasized one critic.
Maxine Waters slammed to appreciate Sam Bankman-Fried
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), chair of the House Committee on Financial Services, was criticized on social media after she tweeted her gratitude to former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) on Friday.
Waters is chairing a congressional hearing on the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX, which starts on December 13. The lawmaker wrote: “We appreciate that you have been honest in your discussions about what happened at FTX. Your willingness to speak to the public will help the company’s customers, investors and others. To that end, we would like to participate in our hearing on the 13th.”
Many people were quick to point out to Waters that the former FTX boss is a fraud and should be arrested in due course. Some people have even compared Bankman-Fried and the FTX implosion to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
“If you don’t arrest him, I will have lost all faith in our government in the tiniest bit of just,” bitcoin supporter Dan Held black to Waters.
Attorney Jake Chervinsky responded to the congresswoman: “Rep. Waters, we appreciate you holding a hearing on the 13th and we look forward to finding the facts about what happened at FTX.” He added:
I am sure that fact-finding will show that SBF has not actually been frank in its discussions. He committed fraud, period.
However, many are not surprised by Waters’ tweet given her good relationship with Bankman-Fried. At the conclusion of a congressional hearing last year, she even appeared to be blowing kisses at SBF. Some also pointed out that the former FTX CEO gave $300K to Waters’ committee members.
The crypto exchange FTX collapsed and filed for bankruptcy on 11 November. An estimated one million customers and investors lost billions of dollars in the meltdown. FTX is currently under investigation by authorities in several jurisdictions. In the US, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulators are investigating the exchange for mishandling of customer funds, among other things.
Jeremy Hogan, a partner at Hogan & Hogan, told Water:
You, as chairman (or the committee itself), can only call him to testify. You don’t have to ask nicely on Twitter. It is House Rule XI Clause 2(m). But I’m sure you already knew that.
Bankman-Fried was the second largest donor to the Democratic Party during the 2021-22 election cycle. According to Opensecrets, he donated $39,884,256 to Democrats before FTX imploded and had to file for bankruptcy. However, Tesla CEO and Twitter CEO Elon Musk believes that SBF’s actual support for the Democrats was over $1 billion.
What do you think of the statement of Rep. Maxine Waters on Bankman-Fried, and do you think she should lead the investigation into the collapse of FTX? Let us know in the comments section below.
Image credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
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