Congress has been looking into crypto in a different way lately, as around eight lawmakers, or their immediate family, have traded them in the last year, CNBC reported Tuesday (Feb. 15).
The bets were going from around $1,000 to around $100,000. Seven Republicans partook in this, including Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who is the ranking member of the banking committee.
Toomey has been outspoken about any kind of a ban on trading. His argument is that it might disincentivize public service, and he’s spent time defending existing laws that make it so people have to disclose their finances, which also bar Congress from insider trading.
According to a spokeswoman, his crypto investments reflect “broad financial trends.”
Meanwhile, the only Democrat who did so was Rep. Marie Newman of Illinois.
Bitcoin was the most popular cryptocurrency and ether was the second most popular, and some lawmakers even traded dogecoin and lesser known coins like Cardano, Stellar, Celo, Chainlink, Basic Attention Token and EOS.
Advertisement: Scroll to Continue
The crypto trade will likely be another part of the debate over Congressional conflicts of interest, with the industry now gaining steam with a lobbying machine while lawmakers consider regulations.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) has introduced legislation prohibiting stock trading, and he said crypto is a different ball game than the normal kinds of investing.
“Members of Congress shouldn’t buy and sell corporate stocks here,” he said. “I fought against that practice for a decade. Crypto is more complicated than that.”
See also: Treasury Official Tells Senate Hearing Stablecoin Regulation Should be ‘Clear and Consistent’
Brown and Toomey, both part of the banking committee, have been weighing stablecoins and other digital investments for some time, debating whether there should be more regulations.
Brown has said stablecoins in particular need more regulation because of what he deemed to be occasionally misleading advertisements for them. He cited the Super Bowl ads about crypto as an example of why the new digital currencies need some regulation.
