By Douglas Gillison, Tom Bergin, Chris Prentice and Isla Binnie
WASHINGTON – The government of President Donald Trump is expected to be a high time for crypto, but a review from Reuters shows that very few members of the incoming congress are invested in Bitcoin or other digital currencies.
On Thursday, Trump signed an order to create a cryptocurrency working group to open the regulatory framework, and only a few days before he took office, he launched a new crypto token.
But although many Republicans have promised to support Trump’s agenda, a Reuters evaluation of the most recent financial disclosures discovered by the 535 incoming members of the congress that few have made personal investments in crypto: only 13 members of the House and the Senate had investments in cryptocurrencies from their most recent files. The husband of another representative has Bitcoin, and a second spouse has an agreement that could bring her coins.
All in all, less than 3% of the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate with direct exposure to cryptocurrency.
Although members of the congress are generally much richer than the public as a whole, their archives suggest that they are now much less inclined to possess crypto assets. According to a recent research study by PEW research, almost one in five Americans reported that they had invested in, traded or used a cryptocurrency at some point.
The amounts are also small. A senator – rich former Hedgefonds – director Dave McCormick (NYSE 🙂 – has up to $ 5 million investment in a Bitcoin fund. Apart from him, the combined cryptocurrency value of all other 12 legislators between $ 1.1 million and $ 2.6 million – is a fraction of their reported wealth. Vice President JD Vance reported Crypto companies between $ 250.001 and $ 500,000. (Reuters included the former senator from Ohio and now vice president because his position makes him president of the Senate.)
The small investments are, in contrast to the money that the crypto industry flows into American politics. By the summer, Crypto companies had already spent more than $ 100 million, or almost half of all business donations, to congress races, good for almost one in two dollars of company contributions, according to Public Citizen, a interest group for consumers based in Washington , DC
Tyler Gellasch, a former lawyer of the US Securities and Exchange Commission that leads to the Healthy Markets Association, an organization in Washington, DC that argues for strong securities regulations, said that the low participations of the legislators can be an aversion to the lack of beaverers Around the assets.
“They are probably more aware of the risks than the general public, especially the lack of a coherent and robust regime,” Gellasch said, adding: “It is not bad for members not to have self -interest when pumping the Value of their own digital assets.
Critics of cryptocurrencies, including some senior commercial and central bankers, emphasize problems with fraud and say the fact that they are not supported by underlying, money -generating assets or companies, making them more than gambling than investing.
Reuters asked for a comment from the 13 members of the incoming congress whose disclosures showed cryptocurrency companies. Only two answered.
“The involvement of the legislators now-for important personal investment-connecting their dedication to ensure that Crypto will become a robust industry, guided by the US in the coming years,” said Cody Carbone, President of the Digital Chamber, a leading lobbying group for Crypto industry with past ties with the man nominated as the next chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins. Atkins did not respond to a request for comment.
Legislation
The Reuters Review is the first of its kind that is published for the incoming congress. It covers transactions until the beginning of January, before Trump launched his own cryptocurrency during the run -up to his inauguration. Reuters investigated thousands of pages of 1500 documents for the disclosure of congress submitted until January 22, and performed several automated searches of 1,300 of these and manual reviews for 200 archives that were handwritten or not scanned as clear images.
The incoming congress, both chambers that are now controlled by the Republicans, is expected to create a legal framework for crypto to grow as part of more traditional finances. The crypto sector opened its wallet to support Trump and countless conference campaigns. Trump has tapped crypto proponents for high-level roles and called crypto investor David Sacks to be the artificial intelligence and crypto tsar of the White House.
“It seems almost certain that the congress will take place in the coming year crypto reform,” said Yesha Yadav, associated dean at the Vanderbilt University Law School, and an expert in digital assets regulations and market structure.
The low investment percentage by congress members to date is no surprise, said Yadav. Crypto is still a relatively new possession and “it has not benefited from a well-written, protective perimeter in the US historically (a fact that should be known to those who serve in the congress), she said by e-mail.
In Ohio, crypto interests spent at least $ 40 million in the previous elections that defeated Pro-Crypto Republican Bernie Moreno, who defeated crypto-skeptic Democrat Sherrod Brown, the chairman of the Senate Bank Committee,, according to campaign finance reports. While an earlier candidate showed a revocable confidence for Moreno with between $ 100,000 and $ 250,000 in Bitcoin in 2021, the senator had apparently resigned from his most recent request, which did not show any crypto interests at all. The office of Moreno did not respond to a request for comments.
At least 10 of the legislators reported interests in Bitcoin, the most famous cryptocurrency. Others had more obscure investments, such as Rep. Mike Collins, a Republican from Georgia who owns three small cryptocoins, including “Aerodrome” and “Ski Mask Dog.” The total interests of Collins in Crypto are worth at least $ 56,015 and possibly more than $ 315.002. Because his archives recorded transactions and no balances, it was not possible to determine a clearer reach. Collins did not respond to requests for comments.
In some cases, the disclosures mentioned assets that were not possible to pars. Cynthia Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming,, for example, has been one of Cryptto’s best lawyers in the Senate, who sponsors accounts to create a Crypto regulation framework – and last year that the US government would have required the US government for one stock. Lummis said in a recent CNBC interview that she was previously owned by five bitcoin, but did not know if that is still the case. Her most recent application does not show any. An entry in her disclosure of 2022 for a blind trust showed Bitcoin holdings between $ 50.001 and $ 100,000. If she has held that investment, it should be worth $ 300,000 to $ 600,000 on Wednesday, assuming it was in line with the price of Bitcoin.
Lummis was an ‘early investor before she placed her assets in blind trust … to prevent the possibility of conflicts of interest, “her spokesperson said in a statement.
