US Congress to hold ‘crypto crash’ hearing on Feb. 14

The “Crypto Crash: Why Financial System Safeguards are Needed for Digital Assets” hearing will come two months after senators met to discuss the collapse of FTX.

United States lawmakers with the Senate Banking Committee have scheduled a second hearing exploring the impact of a crypto market crash.

In a Feb. 3 announcement, Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown said senators would convene on Feb. 14 in a hearing titled “Crypto Crash: Why Financial System Safeguards are Needed for Digital Assets.” The hearing will come two months after lawmakers met and discussed the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in a Dec. 14 hearing.

As the second hearing is scheduled for the Senate Banking Committee following the start of the 118th session of Congress, there will be some changes. Senator Brown will remain committee chair, but Senator Tim Scott will take over as ranking member following the departure of Pat Toomey. Scott included a crypto regulatory framework as one of his legislative priorities.

Committees in both the House and Senate set up hearings following FTX’s filing for bankruptcy, impacting many retail investors in the United States. The House Financial Services Committee is also expected to hold a second hearing on FTX sometime in 2023. At the time of publication, no hearing appeared on the committee schedule.

Hollywood star Ben McKenzie, Shark Tank star and investor Kevin O’Leary, the Cato Institute’s Jennifer Schulp and law professor Hilary Allen all testified in the December hearing. Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried had been scheduled to speak at the House Financial Services Committee hearing prior to his arrest in the Bahamas. It’s unclear who will speak at the February hearing.

Cointelegraph reached out to Senator Sherrod Brown’s office, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.