Sam Bankman-Fried says he has given as many millions to Republicans as he has to Democrats

“All of my Republican donations were in the dark,” SBF told crypto influencer and YouTuber Tiffany Fong, referring to political donations that are not publicly disclosed. “The reason wasn’t for regulatory reasons, it’s because journalists freak out if you donate to Republicans. They are all super liberal and I didn’t want to argue.

SBF was the second-largest Democratic donor during the last election cycle and he told Fong that he donated about the same amount to Republicans. Including politicians Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (DN.Y.), Representative. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-Ill.)And Representative Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) they have since returned the money or pledged to after FTX imploded and shook up the cryptocurrency industry.

The $40 million Bankman-Fried gave last cycle to the Democrats dragged only the financier George Soros, which gave away an estimated $128 million. If SBF actually donated the same amount to both parties, as it said Tuesday, that would also make it the fifth-largest individual Republican donor, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets.

SBF’s comments to Fong came hours after Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, asked the six largest cryptocurrency exchangesincluding Binance and Coin basisto provide financial statements and other relevant information how they handle client funds. Bankman-Fried reportedly tapped into clients’ money to finance personal expenses, including gambling at his trading company, Alameda Research.

“As Congress sees much-needed regulation for the cryptocurrency industry, I will focus on the clear need for consumer protection along the lines of safeguards that have long existed for customers of banks, credit unions and securities brokers,” he said. written Wyden. in a letter also sent to Kraken, KuCoin, Bitfinex and Gemini.

Pressure was mounting in Washington for lawmakers to actually do something regarding cryptocurrency regulations even sooner FTX collapse and bankruptcywhich surfaced a few weeks ago afterwards a report from CoinDesk on November 2nd. FTX is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice, according to the Wall Street Journalbut the SEC and the Commodities Future Trading Commission have been criticized doing almost nothing impede FTX’s house of cards is collapsing.

In the House, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, he recently told CNBC that the committee would play a role in overseeing FTX, adding that the legislative body would “do everything possible to report any violations that have obviously been committed.”