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The price of bitcoin traded at a record high of more than $69,000 on Tuesday, but one demographic that’s not cashing in on the historic crypto bull market are lawmakers in Washington, D.C.
Just two sitting members of Congress reported purchasing cryptocurrencies during 2022 and 2023, according to an analysis by 2IQ Research’s Capitol Trades, which tracks lawmakers’ investment transactions based on financial-disclosure reports. That’s down from seven lawmakers in 2021.
Read more: Bitcoin surges above $69,000 to record high as investors sail into ‘untested waters’
Those lawmakers include Rep. Michael Collins, a Georgia Republican, and Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican.
Cruz bought between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of bitcoin
BTCUSD,
on Jan. 25, 2022, when the digital asset was trading at just shy of $37,000. Since that time, the price of bitcoin has risen more than 83%, putting the value of his purchase at between $27,570 and $91,900 now.
Cruz didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Collins was a net purchaser of ether
ETHUSD,
the second-most popular cryptocurrency, starting on Oct. 9, 2023, through to his most recent purchase on Jan. 8 of this year.
Over the course of those four months, Collins executed net purchases of between $18,000 and $95,000 in ether, at purchase prices ranging from $1,580 to $2,333. Today, ether is trading at more than $3,677.
Collins didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
Two Democratic lawmakers, Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan and Rep. Jeffrey Jackson of North Carolina, reported selling cryptocurrencies over the past two years.
Thanedar sold between $250,000 and $500,000 of bitcoin on Feb. 2, when the cryptocurrency was trading at around $42,659. On that same date, he sold between $100,000 and $250,000 of ether and between $15,000 and $50,000 of litecoin
LTCUSD,
“I am pro-crypto and have held crypto for 5+ years,” Thanedar said in a statement to MarketWatch. “I still HODL crypto and only made this sale to move assets to a new account. Probably not the best timing! However, I believe in crypto’s long-term potential to democratize access to finance, so I will keep HODLing,” said the congressman, using a popular crypto term for holding an asset.
“As a congressman, I’m working to ensure that crypto laws are clear, fair and consistent. More clarity in this market means more crypto startups made in America, which should be our goal.”
Jackson sold between $1,000 and $15,000 of both Cardano’s ADA cryptocurrency
ADAUSD,
and the ANKR token
ANKRUSD,
on Jan. 29, 2023. A spokesperson told MarketWatch that these sales were made after the congressman decided “to divest from all individual stocks and cryptocurrencies upon becoming a member of Congress.”
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican well known in the crypto community as an ally, didn’t disclose any crypto trades for 2022 or 2023, after reporting in 2021 that she owned between $100,000 and $250,000 of bitcoin. A spokesperson for her office said that Lummis placed her assets in a blind trust in 2022 and is therefore unaware of its contents.
The most active crypto trader in Congress during 2022 and 2023 was former Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who served one term as a North Carolina Republican in the House from 2021 to 2023.
He reported 29 different crypto transactions between May 27, 2022, and June, 8 2022, which included purchases and sales of bitcoin, ether, solana
SOLUSD,
request
REQUSD,
kryll, ADA, ANKR and LGB Coin — the last one named after the “Let’s Go Brandon” chant aimed at mocking President Joe Biden.
It was his ownership of LGB that got Cawthorn in hot water with the House Ethics Committee, which said in a 2022 report that that he acted improperly by promoting the coin without disclosing his financial interest in it and bought the coin on favorable financial terms.
