Coindesk has reported that U.S. Congress has 196 members who took contributions from FTX and also directly from Sam Bankman-Fried. The report notes that the figure means more than one in three members have taken contributions from the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange.
The development adds yet another wrinkle to the mess of the FTX collapse. Now, the new session has begun with a massive number of Congressional members having received campaign contributions from one of the largest financial fraudsters the industry has seen in years.
One in three Congress Members Took from FTX
The past year is widely regarded for the massive hit that the cryptocurrency sector took. 2022 was marred by plummeting prices brought on by macroeconomic factors. It was also stained by the collapse of several large cryptocurrency companies. Yet, of those, none were bigger than that of FTX.
The bankruptcy of the cryptocurrency exchange platform was only upstaged by the arrest of co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Charged with eight counts of fraud and conspiracy, the 30-year-old executed one of the largest financial crime schemes in history.
As the platform is in the midst of bankruptcy hearings, and Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty in criminal proceedings, the United States government has unearthed its own “SBF problem”. Coindesk has reported that U.S. Congress has 196 members who took contributions from FTX. That number indicates more than one in three Congressional members who took directly from Sam Bankman-Fried.
The report notes that the names involved in taking contributions range from the new Speaker of the House, Republican California representative, Kevin McCarthey, and New York Democratic Representative Chuck Schumer. Moreover, Coindesk notes that most of the 196 who responded for comment stated that the money was donated to charity, “to remove the taint of contributions from executives such as former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried,” the report stated.