CoinMarketCap News, Dec. 6: Sam Bankman-Fried Feels the Heat as U.S. Politicians Demand Answers

A top Democrat is now urging Sam Bankman-Fried to testify before Congress next week — after her polite requests were rebuffed. Maxine Waters has rejected the FTX founder's claims that he needs more time to get to the bottom of why his exchange collapsed — pointing to the multiple media interviews he has given. The chairwoman of the House Financial Services Commitee said: "As you know, the collapse of FTX has harmed over one million people … It is imperative that you attend our hearing on the 13th." An appearance in front of U.S. politicians would undoubtedly pile pressure on FTX, especially because he would be under oath.

Standard Chartered has published a list of long-shot scenarios for 2023… and one of them isn't good for Bitcoin. The bank argues that the world's biggest cryptocurrency could fall by another 70% next year, plumbing new depths of $5,000. It's important to stress this isn't a prediction per se — just potential surprises that are underpriced by the market. Analysts believe this dire situation could be realized if the economy worsens, tech stocks fall further, and the contagion from FTX spreads. "The question of just what lies ahead for digital assets has arguably never been harder to answer," Standard Chartered's head of research Eric Robertsen said.

Goldman Sachs is planning to capitalize on the bear market by swooping in to buy crypto firms at rock-bottom prices. That's according to Reuters, which claims the U.S. banking giant has a budget that stretches into tens of millions of dollars. Goldman's head of digital assets said FTX's collapse has emphasized why "more trustworthy, regulated cryptocurrency players" are needed. But some critics might argue that the notion of a legacy financial institution owning crypto businesses undermines why Bitcoin was created in the first place. The bank has refused to reveal which crypto firms it's currently performing due diligence on.

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating "several firms" as part of a new crackdown on deceptive advertising by the cryptocurrency industry, according to reports. The agency is refusing to give further details, but it's probably safe to say that FTX and its U.S. subsidiary would be on the list following a flurry of star-studded commercials. The FTC's ad crackdown comes more than a year after the U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority began an aggressive crackdown on crypto ads that failed to adequately explain the risks of investing in highly volatile cryptocurrencies — with restrictions also imposed in Spain and Singapore.

Crypto lender Nexo is immediately ending business in eight states and will leave the U.S. entirely in a "gradual and orderly fashion" — but all customers will be able to withdraw funds without delay. In an announcement, Nexo said the phase-out of all its products and services in the U.S. comes after "more than 18 months of good-faith dialogue with U.S. state and federal regulators which has come to a dead end." The highly critical statement added: "Regulators are unwilling to coordinate with one another, and are insistent on taking positions that are inconsistent with one another, creating an impossible environment to operate efficiently."