From today’s CNBC News:
The shocking collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has increased the urgency in Congress to understand what went wrong and pass legislation to try to prevent another debacle that would affect hundreds of thousands of investors.
One bill, the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act, introduced in August, gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission more authority to regulate digital commodities like FTX.
The bill arrived before FTX’s collapse ignited fresh debate over how to protect consumers in the relatively young and untamed crypto industry. It is among a handful of solutions lawmakers will consider as they begin to probe the implosion of FTX with high-stakes hearings this week — and try to implement safeguards across the industry.
New FTX CEO John J. Ray is scheduled to testify before the House on Tuesday. Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was also set to testify at the House hearing — and had refused to testify in a Senate hearing set for Wednesday — before his arrest in the Bahamas Monday night.
Bankman-Fried was charged in a U.S. indictment with eight criminal counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, individual charges of securities fraud and wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to avoid campaign finance regulations.
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November after revelations that Alameda Research, a trading firm founded by Bankman-Fried, had secretly borrowed and traded billions of dollars from FTX customers.
Read the complete story here.