Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis Discloses Bitcoin Purchase Worth Up to $100k in Late Filing
Despite being the most controversial digital asset in the nascent industry, Bitcoin is slowly gaining support in Washington. Reports coming from the Capital City states that Senator Lummis has recently increased her BTC holdings.
Lummis Buys BTC Worth $100K
U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis, representing crypto-friendly Wyoming, recently disclosed her purchase of Bitcoin worth between $50,000 and $100,000.
According to a Periodic Transaction Report filed yesterday, Lummis made the purchase on August 16 after unsuccessfully trying to amend the Senate-passed crypto infrastructure bill. The purchase was made through her brokerage platform River Financial.
Lummis is a long-time crypto bull and has been swelling her Bitcoin holdings since 2013. According to the crypto enthusiast, she started buying Bitcoin when it traded for as little as $330.
However, her latest purchase has drawn criticism from several quarters largely due to the lateness of the filing.
According to the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK), all serving senators and senior officials within the $119,554 pay bracket are meant to report specific financial transactions within a stipulated time.
The Senate ruling also demanded that all purchases, sales, or exchanges of any stock, bond, commodities futures must be disclosed within 45 days of the transaction.
When contacted by the media, a spokesperson to the Senator admitted that the oversight was due to a ‘filing error.’
“It was an honest mistake, and the issue has been resolved without penalty.”
The premier digital asset has drawn strong criticism from the White House, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen labeling it a tool for money laundering and terrorist financing. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair, Gary Gensler, has repeatedly called for more oversight as the industry sees more mainstream adoption.
Lummis No Friend To Stablecoins
Senator Lummis is not the only lawmaker with a crypto war chest in Congress, and Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania also owns stakes in the rapidly-growing digital financial space.
Senator Toomey is reported to have purchased $15,000 worth of Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust (ETHE) and another $15,000 price of the famous digital asset management firm’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) in mid-June, according to data from Quiver Quantitative.
Meanwhile, Lummis has called for a more elaborate retirement fund for Americans while pointing out that cryptocurrencies may be a viable tool as concerns continue to grow around inflation.
Stablecoins are meant to reduce volatility issues surrounding crypto assets like Bitcoin by pegging their value to a national currency. Stablecoins have come under increasing criticism, with SEC’s Chair Gensler attributing them to poker chips.
According to the SEC boss, digital trading could hurt investors without proper regulatory oversight. One of the most criticized of the bunch has been Tether’s USDT which has been required by the New York Attorney General (NYAG) office to provide quarterly reports on USDT backing.
Jimmy Aki
