[Just the News] Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow received at least $55,600 in donations this year from employees of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange platform that declared bankruptcy after allegedly misusing client funds.Link to bio found here.
Then, Stabenow, who as Agriculture Committee chairwoman oversees the Commodities Future Trading Commission, a cryptocurrency regulator, sponsored legislation to regulate cryptocurrency.
Michigan Capital Confidential first reported the story, citing Federal Election Commission records.
Coindesk reported that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried consistently met with regulators and lawmakers and pushed for crypto regulation, including lobbying for the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act, Stabenow's bill. The bill seeks to give the CFTC more authority to regulate digital commodities like FTX.
Bankman-Fried tweeted on Oct. 18, 2022, "I'm optimistic that the Stabenow-Boozman's bill will provide customer protection on centralized crypto exchanges without endangering the existence of software, blockchains, validators, DeFi, etc. If I were convinced I was wrong about that, I would not support it."
Bankman-Fried backed Stabenow's bill and paid bill cosponsor Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), $8,700; cosponsor Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), $5,800, and cosponsor Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) $5,700, according to FEC records.
At one point, FTX claimed to be worth $32 billion before its collapse.