Original Author: Fat Huahua, Rhythm BlockBeats

The past 1 year has been the first time that the world of cryptocurrencies has officially entered the world of congressmen. For lawmakers, 2021 is not only the first year of legislative constraints on the cryptocurrency market, but also the first time cryptocurrencies have entered their portfolios.

According to statistics, in the 117th Congress, the average age of representatives is 58.4 years old, and the average age of senators is 64.3 years old. Although it seems that they are older, judging from relevant news and disclosures, age has not become an obstacle for some of them to learn about the encryption world.

A total of 6 members of Congress disclosed their participation in cryptocurrency transactions in their filing records, including 4 representatives and 2 senators. They are:

Federal House of Representatives:

Felix Moore: Invested $45,000 in ADA, $15,000 in ETH

Mary Newman: Invested up to $50,000 in GBTC

Mark Green: Bought and sold about $15,000 to $30,000 on BAT, CELO, DOGE, EOS, ETC, LINK, and XLM respectively.

Mike Woltz: Bought up to $100,000 on BTC

Federal Senator:

Pat Toomey: Invested up to $15,000 each in ETHE and GBTC

Cynthia Ramis: Invested $100,000 in BTC

According to the declaration materials, the six members of Congress made a total of 25 transactions in 2021.

In addition to directly buying and selling digital currencies, more members of Congress indirectly hold encrypted assets by investing in the stocks of cryptocurrency-related companies or purchasing financial products.

According to reports, Rep. Jeff Van Drew's filing shows that he has a $250,000 trust asset that is operated by Grayscale (Grayscale). As we all know, Grayscale is one of the largest encrypted asset management companies in the world.

Republican Rep. Barry Moore invested as much as $15,000 in an Alabama brokerage firm, according to a report. His financial disclosures describe the company as a "cryptocurrency brokerage." His office did not respond to a request for comment about his agency. His disclosure said the company paid dividends of $2,501 to $5,000 in 2020.

Democratic Rep. Mary Newman's husband, Jim Newman, has at least 16 disclosed trades in Coinbase stock. The most recent deal, in November, was a $50,001 to $100,000 sale. Also last November, Newman's husband purchased up to $50,000 worth of Grayscale trust products.

Among them, Republican Senator Cynthia Ramis' purchase of $100,000 in August last year caused a lot of controversy.

Ramis is a member of the Bundesrat's Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban-Rural Development. According to the disclosure in January 2021, he held bitcoins worth between US$50,000 and US$10 (currency value in January 2021) at this point in time. Accumulated up to $100,000 worth of Bitcoin (August 2021 currency value). The senator’s office replied to the media Insider’s inquiry: “The senator’s investment behavior complies with the relevant federal laws and the Senate’s Code of Ethics on the disclosure of financial behavior requirements.” However, this did not dispel the outside world’s doubts about her investment behavior. In particular, the committee she sits on is one of a Senate committee with potential jurisdiction over crypto assets.

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Congressional staffers love cryptocurrencies too

Compared with congressmen who are public figures, congressional staff who are responsible for providing various services and consulting work for congressmen pay no less attention to cryptocurrencies than they do.

According to media Insider reports, they could identify 21 senior congressional staffers or their spouses who bought or sold cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, and DOGE, in 2020 and 2021.

Under federal law, senior staff and other related employees of Congress are required to promptly report all their stock transactions and other outside income if their annual income exceeds $132,552. This figure is usually the minimum salary of the chief of staff of the parliamentarians (also known as the chief of staff of the parliamentarian); in addition to the chief of staff, other senior staff higher than this figure also include the chief counselors of each parliamentarian (chief counsels), legislative Legislative directors, and staff who serve on committees and provide policy advice to lawmakers.

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For a variety of reasons, restricting members of Congress to establish personal blind trusts for investment activities has been slow, and has always attracted a certain degree of public criticism. The urgency and seriousness of this issue is even more pronounced with the advent of crypto assets.