With FTX creditors numbering over one million and owed up to $50 billion, FTX’s old CEO said he’s interested in starting a business to repay them all.
The founder and former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has expressed interest in forming a new venture aimed at paying back the customers he owes money to.
"I would give anything to be able to do that. And I'm going to try if I can," Sam Bankman-Fried responded when asked by BBC during a Dec. 10 interview if he’d start a new business to repay FTX users.
"I'm going to be thinking about how we can help the world and if users haven't gotten much back, I'm going to be thinking about what I can do for them,” he added. “I think at the very least I have a duty to FTX users to do right by them as best as I can."
Bankman-Fried’s exchange may have “more than 1 million creditors,” according to bankruptcy filings from Nov. 14. Estimates on how much FTX has potentially lost range from $10 billion to $50 billion.
In line with previous statements during his so-called media apology tour, Bankman-Fried again said he "didn’t knowingly commit fraud. I don’t think I committed fraud.”
Bankman-Fried also admitted he “was certainly not nearly as competent as I thought I was."
SBF added as witness in US House Committee hearing
Meanwhile, after days of back and forth between United States House Representative Maxine Waters and Bankman-Fried, the FTX founder is now officially confirmed as a witness for the Dec. 13 hearing with the House Committee on Financial Services.
As of Dec. 11, his name now officially shows up on the list of witnesses scheduled to attend the Dec. 13 hearing, titled “Investigating the Collapse of FTX, Part I.”
The other witness, whohad already been added as of Dec. 9, is none other than John Ray, the new CEO of FTX.
Related: Former top SEC crypto regulator hired by Caroline Ellison
Controversially, Bankman-Fried has missed the deadline to confirm his appearance at a Senate Committee hearing on FTX's collapse, scheduled for Dec. 14.
A Dec. 7 letter addressed to Bankman-Fried from Committee Chair Sherrod Brown warned that the senator was prepared “to issue a subpoena to compel your testimony.”
A statement on Dec. 9 from Brown and Senator Pat Toomey noted Bankman-Fried did not respond to the deadline and the committee “will continue to work on having him appear before Congress.”
Toomey tweeted on Dec. 9 that he’s “glad” Bankman-Fried would appear at the House hearing and added he expects the FTX founder at the Senate’s hearing the day after.
