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Federal prosecutors are investigating whether FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, manipulated the market for two cryptocurrencies this past spring, leading to their collapse and creating a domino effect that eventually caused the implosion of his own cryptocurrency exchange last month, the New York Time reported. U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan are examining the possibility that Mr. Bankman-Fried steered the prices of two interlinked currencies, TerraUSD and Luna, to benefit the entities he controlled, including FTX and Alameda Research, a hedge fund he co-founded and owned, the people said. The investigation is in its early stages, and it is not clear whether prosecutors have determined any wrongdoing by Bankman-Fried, or when they began looking at the TerraUSD and Luna trades. The matter is part of a broadening inquiry into the collapse of Bankman-Fried’s Bahamas-based cryptocurrency empire, and the potential misappropriation of billions of dollars in customer funds. Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission have been examining whether FTX broke the law by transferring its customer funds to Alameda. Last month, a run on deposits exposed an $8 billion hole in the exchange’s accounts, causing the company to collapse. Bankman-Fried stepped down as FTX’s chief executive when the company filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11. FTX is also under investigation for violating U.S. money-laundering laws that require money transfer businesses to know who their customers are and flag any potentially illegal activity to law enforcement authorities, three people familiar with the investigation said. Investigators are also looking into the activities of other offshore cryptocurrency trading platforms.

U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Patrick Toomey (R-Pa.) have asked Sam Bankman-Fried to testify at a hearing about cryptocurrency exchange FTX’s collapse on Dec. 14, Bloomberg News reported. Brown, who is the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, said that he and Toomey are prepared to issue a subpoena if the disgraced crypto founder doesn’t choose to appear voluntarily. Brown wrote in a letter that Bankman-Fried “must answer” for the failures of FTX Trading Ltd. and of Alameda Research, two of the entities in the sprawling and now-bankrupt FTX universe. “There are still significant unanswered questions about how client funds were misappropriated, how clients were blocked from withdrawing their own money, and how you orchestrated a cover-up,” he wrote. Bankman-Fried had previously suggested that he would be willing to appear in front of a different committee — House Financial Services — after he’d finished “learning and reviewing.” In response, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, told Bankman-Fried that it was “imperative” that he attend that hearing, scheduled for Dec. 13. “Based on your role as CEO and your media interviews over the past few weeks, it’s clear to us that the information you have thus far is sufficient for testimony,” Waters’ verified account posted on Twitter. By Wednesday night, Rep. Waters’ rhetoric had hardened further. “A subpoena is definitely on the table. Stay tuned,” Waters’ account said in a tweet posted jointly with the verified account for the House Financial Services Committee. Waters’ tweet also directly referenced a report from CNBC that said she had informed a group of Democrats that she didn’t plan to issue a subpoena to Bankman-Fried. “Lies are circulating,” Waters said, referring to the report.

E-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs announced Tuesday it has reached settlements covering more than 5,000 cases with nearly 10,000 plaintiffs. The sweeping resolutions, which litigators say will address youth e-cigarette usage, come after more than three years of legal battles, the Washington Post reported. The settlements include compensation for those suffering from nicotine addiction and other health problems, as well as reimbursement for those who purchased Juul products. School districts, cities, counties and Native American tribes will also receive resources to fight nicotine addiction among youths. Juul did not disclose the settlement amount. Sarah R. London, co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in the federal multidistrict litigation, expressed hope for the potential impact of the resolutions. “These settlements will put meaningful compensation in [the] hands of victims and their families, get real funds to schools for abatement programs, and help government and tribal entities prevent youth use of e-cigarettes across the U.S.,” she said in a written statement. But Robert Jackler, a Stanford medical school professor who researches the impact of tobacco advertising and served as an expert witness in the proceedings, was less optimistic. “Time and again tobacco companies absorb sizable legal settlements as a cost of doing business, only [to] re-emerge as highly profitable purveyors [of] nicotine products which they market to youth,” he said in an email. If Juul survives the financial and reputational blow, “it will escape full accountability for its reprehensive corporate behavior,” he said. The settlement is the latest development in a spate of legal feuds and public controversies afflicting the once-thriving e-cigarette company.

When crypto exchange FTX was struggling to raise cash early last month, it seized billions of dollars worth of collateral from its trading arm, Alameda Research, and used it to try to convince investors of its financial health, former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried said, the Wall Street Journal reported. But much of it didn’t add up. A big chunk of the assets consisted of four thinly traded crypto tokens closely connected to Mr. Bankman-Fried and FTX employees and mostly held by Alameda. The tokens were likely worth far less than the $6.4 billion marked on the balance sheet FTX was shopping to investors in the hope of a bailout, according to market data and crypto researchers. “It wasn’t meant to be casting a judgment or making a decision for people on what they thought was their worth from a liquidity perspective,” Mr. Bankman-Fried said. The four tokens taken from Alameda were listed as assets in documents dated Nov. 10, Mr. Bankman-Fried said in an interview Friday and according to documents reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. By then, the value of the tokens had roughly halved in less than a week, market data and FTX’s balance sheet show. Some investors had already been skeptical of the value of these tokens. At its peak price, one had a market value of $127 billion—though only a tiny fraction of that was available for purchase. The value FTX placed on the tokens held on its balance sheet vastly exceeded the total amount in circulation. No investor stepped forward to save FTX, which filed for bankruptcy the next day.

The chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee demanded on Monday that Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, testify before Congress on Dec. 13, Reuters reported. "It is imperative that you attend our hearing on the 13th, and we are willing to schedule continued hearings if there is more information to be shared later," Representative Maxine Waters, the committee chair, wrote on Twitter. On Sunday, Bankman-Fried tweeted that he would testify before the committee after he finished "learning and reviewing" the events that led to the spectacular collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange. In the tweet Bankman-Fried said he was unsure if that would happen before Dec. 13. But in her reply on Monday, Waters wrote on Twitter: "Based on your role as CEO and your media interviews over the past few weeks, it's clear to us that the information you have thus far is sufficient for testimony."

The judge overseeing Celsius Network LLC’s bankruptcy case is expected to decide if the crypto firm has full ownership rights over customer deposits, a key legal issue that may resonate for millions of other users of failed crypto platforms, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge Martin Glenn of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York is set to consider this week whether Celsius has the right to lend, sell and reinvest billions of dollars of crypto deposited in its high-interest accounts. Customers have clamored for a return of their coins as quickly as possible, and have argued that Celsius and its founder, Alex Mashinsky, touted that customers would retain control over their deposits. The immediate impact of a ruling in favor of Celsius would be to allow the company to sell $18 million in stablecoins to fund the expenses for a longer stay in chapter 11. But the firm’s request to sell those stablecoins turns on a more fundamental legal question: What rights do crypto banks, brokerages or exchanges have over their customers’ coins? Ownership rights are spelled out in each firm’s terms of use that customers signed on to, often on their mobile devices with just a few clicks. Bankruptcy courts have only begun to unravel what those terms of use mean for the billions of dollars in cryptocurrencies trapped on insolvent platforms like Celsius, Voyager Digital Holdings Inc. and, more recently, FTX.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. said on Monday it will pay about $168 million by year-end to resolve over 95% of pending claims from owners who alleged the car rental giant filed wrongful theft reports, Reuters reported. Some customers had sued Hertz alleging the police detained or arrested individuals in error after the company reported rental cars were stolen. Hertz, which operates Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty vehicle rental brands, said it will recover a "meaningful" portion of the settlement amount from its insurers. The settlement resolves 364 pending claims from car owners. Hertz said it does not expect the resolution of these claims to have a material impact on its capital return plans for this and next year. The company in October reported a 12% jump in third-quarter revenue, amid strong demand for rental cars. Profit, however, rose just 1% on elevated maintenance costs.

The collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has opened a hornet’s nest of squabbles between foreign governments and its new U.S. chief executive, John J. Ray III, the Wall Street Journal reported. In Cyprus, the country’s securities regulator is complaining that Mr. Ray’s decision to place FTX in bankruptcy has stymied investigations and is preventing European customers from getting their money back. Officials in the Bahamas, where FTX moved its headquarters last year, are accusing Mr. Ray of making false statements and suggesting that his team is motivated by the prospects of earning hefty legal fees. In Turkey, authorities have seized the assets of FTX’s local subsidiary, an affront to Mr. Ray’s efforts to sweep FTX’s assets into the chapter 11 process in Delaware. Such disputes reflect a disconnect between the global aspirations of cryptocurrencies and the hard facts of the law, whose powers often don’t extend beyond a nation’s borders. Proponents say the cross-border nature of crypto makes sending money to someone on the other side of the world as easy as sending an email, and many crypto firms have offered their services to customers all over the world and have established headquarters in offshore jurisdictions. But laws meant to protect customers when things go wrong — and the bankruptcy regime in particular — are deeply tied up with national boundaries, and cross-border cooperation is never a guarantee.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted on Sunday that he would testify before the House Financial Services Committee after he finished "learning and reviewing" the events that led to the spectacular collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange, Reuters reported. The U.S. House Financial Services Committee plans to hold a hearing in December to investigate the collapse of FTX and expects to hear from the companies and individuals involved, including founder and CEO Bankman-Fried. Committee Chair Maxine Waters last week invited Bankman-Fried to participate in the panel's hearing on Dec. 13. "Once I have finished learning and reviewing what happened, I would feel like it was my duty to appear before the committee and explain," the founder and former FTX CEO wrote in a reply to Waters. Bankman-Fried added that he was unsure if that would happen before Dec. 13. He rejected suggestions of fraud in a range of interviews last week after his company's collapse stunned investors and left creditors facing losses totaling billions of dollars.