SBF wants to start a new business, officially added as hearing witness

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, Sam Bankman-Fried, said he’d be interested 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,” Bankman-Fried responded when asked if he’d start a new business to repay FTX investors in a Dec. 10 interview with the BBC.

“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 on Nov. 14 and estimates on how much FTX has potentially lost range from $10 billion to $50 billion.

In line with previous statements by Bankman-Fried on his so-called media apology tour, he again said he: “Didn’t knowingly commit fraud. I don’t think I committed fraud.”

He further claimed he “was certainly not nearly as competent as I thought I was.”

SBF added as witness in US House Committee hearing

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 to attend the Dec. 13 hearing titled “Investigating the Collapse of FTX, Part I.”

The other witness, which had 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 the FTX collapse scheduled for Dec. 14.

A Dec. 7 letter addressed Bankman-Fried from Committee Chair Sherrod Brown warned he is 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.