Former FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried ordered to testify before Senate

According to a new report, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is being investigated by federal prosecutors over whether he manipulated the prices of two cryptocurrencies to benefit his company, and was ordered to testify before a Senate committee about the collapse of his platform.

The New York Times reported Wednesday night that federal prosecutors are investigating whether Bankman-Fried steered prices of TerraUSD and Luna to benefit FTX and his Alameda hedge fund. More than $50 billion in market value were wiped out when they collapsed in May. That resulted in the collapse of FTX, as well as a wider crash of the coin.

The investigation is in its early stages, and is part of a wider investigation into FTX collapse and the potential misappropriation of billions of dollars of customers funds, which are now missing, according to the Times. FTX was also investigated for potentially violating U.S. money-laundering laws months before FTX collapse, according to a November Bloomberg report. The Senate Banking Committee ordered Bankman- Fried to testify about the collapse of FTX on December 14, and said he was prepared to issue a subpoena if he doesn't agree to comply by the end of the day Thursday. FTX's collapse has caused real financial harm to consumers, and has spilled over into other parts of the industry. The American people need answers about Sam Bankman- Fried's misconduct at FTX, Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Pat Toomey, R-Pa. said in a statement. The senators said in a letter to Bankman-Fried that they must answer for the failures of both entities that were caused by the clear misuse of client funds and the billions of dollars owed to over a million creditors.