As creditors and lawmakers make sense of the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange in late 2022, U.S. Congress members who received donations from FTX’s ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried or those associated with him have come under pressure to return the money.
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The crypto news outlet Coin Desk has reached out to senators and House members to learn what they plan to do with the money, which FTX customers claim belongs to them. As of January 18, only five respondents had reportedly returned the money they received, while a majority of 53 campaigns that responded to Coin Desk said they had again sent the money to non-profits.
There are concerns about conflict as some Congress members whose campaigns accepted money from Bankman-Fried are involved in discussing the regulation of crypto and crypto businesses, according to Coin Desk.
Bankman-Fried was a prolific political donor who often crossed federal limits when sending contributions to politicians he supported.
According to CBS News, the former billionaire donated around $40 million during the 2022 election cycle. He mostly supported Democratic candidates but admitting to making “dark” donations to Republican candidates as well.
The legal proceedings against Bankman-Fried are ongoing.
