Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are demanding a full accounting of the interaction between Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam and Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) - the now-defunct founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX - have a full accounting of their interactions.

Critics are wondering if this will lead the public to discover what may have happened between regulators and SBF before the exchange collapsed.

Senators Demand Answers from CFTC Chairman on Relationship with Notorious FTX Founder

In a letter sent to Behnam on Monday, the senators expressed concern about the nature of the relationship between the CFTC chairman and Bankman-Fried in the months leading up to the November 2022 collapse of FTX. The lawmakers requested records by April 29 of all meetings, phone calls and communications between the two parties.

"In order to safeguard Americans' savings and retirement, Congress and market regulators such as the CFTC must determine how this multi-billion dollar crime occurred," Warren and Grassley wrote in their letter.

Behnam previously testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee that he and his team met with Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives about 10 times in the 14 months leading up to the exchange's bankruptcy. He also disclosed exchanging "some information" with the CEO.

The senators' request comes after Bankman-Fried was sentenced last month to 25 years in prison for orchestrating a massive fraud that led to the loss of billions in customer funds. Last week, he appealed his sentence.

Despite the harsh penalties, Warren and Grassley emphasized that the victims "will never be financially compensated."

"Mr. Bankman-Fried was sentenced last month to 25 years in prison for stealing $8 billion from users of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. That punishment, while appropriate, is cold comfort to his victims," the senators added.

Warren is active in cryptocurrency

The letter marks the latest in a series of investigations Senator Warren has launched in the wake of the FTX collapse.2022 In November, she and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) urged the Department of Justice to hold Bankman-Fried and co-conspirator executives accountable for their personal wrongdoing.

Warren also sent letters to Bankman-Fried and Bankman-Fried himself demanding an explanation for the misappropriation of customer funds.

Senator Warren's stance on cryptocurrencies has been well known and consistent over the years; in 2021, she described digital assets as "highly opaque and volatile"; and in 2023, her proposed Digital Assets Anti-Money Laundering Act made headlines.

Finance Magnates reached out to the CFTC press office for comment on the matter, but the commission had not responded as of press time.