FTX caretaker CEO John J. Ray III set to appear before Congress hours after SBF arrest

• John J. Ray III, the new FTX CEO, to make first public comments at a congressional hearing.
• Sam Bankman Fried arrested by Bahamian police after US authorities charged him with money laundering, wire and securities fraud.
• The US SEC is investigating other accounts of Securities Law violations conducted by other persons linked to FTX.
• Bitcoin price steadies above $17,000 while the 200-day EMA holds immediate support.

The current CEO of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange, John J. Ray III, will publicly appear at a congressional meeting on Tuesday. Ray's scheduled comments come hours after the former CEO Sam Bankman Fried (SBF) was arrested by the Bahamian police.

Government authorities in the United States have charged SBF with money laundering, wire and securities fraud. He will remain in the custody of the Bahamian police awaiting his extradition to the US.

John J. Ray III to meet the House Committee on Financial Services

Ray, tasked with leading FTX through the bankruptcy proceedings, has been scheduled to appear before the House Committee on Financial Services for a hearing starting at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, on Tuesday.

SBF would have testified before the same committee if it were not for his arrest. Ray has not publicly spoken since his stint at the fallen crypto giant began last month. In an earlier written statement, Ray outlined that the FTX's failure stemmed from "the absolute concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals."

Ray brings to FTX an exemplary track record, having helped other companies navigate the turbulent currents associated with bankruptcy proceedings. He has also pointed out that FTX was prone to "unacceptable management practices" where senior officials dipped their hands into customer funds without a proper control system. Ray and his team are currently working on locating company properties that "may be missing, misappropriated, or not readily traceable."

SBF in the custody of Bahamian police

Sam Bankman Fried will spend his first night behind bars on Tuesday after the Bahamian police arrested him. The 30-year-old crypto entrepreneur is awaiting extradition orders from the US authorities to answer the charges of money laundering, wire and securities fraud.

Meanwhile, the most recent filing by FTX claims that SBF, lawyers representing the company's Bahamian-based subsidiary and local government authorities are involved in an unlawful transfer of assets to pay selected creditors. FTX attorneys also allege that new FTT tokens were minted around the time when $600 million was drained from the platform in November.

In other emerging news, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into other Securities Law violations that could have been perpetrated by other entities and persons linked to the misconduct at FTX.

U.S. SEC: INVESTIGATIONS INTO OTHER SECURITIES LAW VIOLATIONS AND OTHER ENTITIES, PERSONS RELATING TO ALLEGED FTX MISCONDUCT ARE ONGOING https://t.co/d2quzUDmN7

— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) December 13, 2022

Bitcoin price spikes above $17,000

Bitcoin price extended its leg above $17,000 as investors reacted to SBF's arrest. The largest cryptocurrency tagged $17,503 for the first since November 11, when FTX filed for bankruptcy.

BTC/USD four-hour chart

Despite BTC's speedy move above $17,000, further growth has been stifled as it has been forced to retreat to $17,443. On the bright side, the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) (in purple) is in line, providing the bellwether cryptocurrency with immediate support at $17,369.

A break and hold above $17,500 is necessary to keep investor confidence high while clearing the path to $20,000. On the flip side, failure to hold above the 200-day SMA could see Bitcoin price drop to retest support at $16,900 and $15,700, respectively.