Are US Congressmen Hypocritical About Bitcoin?

Even though members of the US House of Representatives have several times talked down on cryptocurrencies, events in the past couple of months have revealed that some congressmen are secretly investing in crypto assets.

Thanks to an ethics memo issued by the House Ethics Committee in June. The mandate required that lawmakers, officers, and employees disclose all cryptocurrency investments over $1,000 in a financial disclosure report to be submitted within 45 days after the purchase of such digital assets.

In a little less than two months, we have had three confessions from the congressmen.

Robert Goodlatte, who serves as the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, disclosed in his financial report that he owned around $17,000 to $80,000 worth of Bitcoin.

More recently, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard who serves the 2nd district of Hawaii also has submitted a financial report which revealed that she had invested up to $15,000 in ETH and LTC sometime in December 2017. Even though the records show that she did not make gains from the investment, there is no way she could have thrown in the money without having some trust in cryptocurrencies.

Aside from the Congress members mentioned earlier, Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), who is the co-founder of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, is among others who are likely to be in possession of crypto assets. Also, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), is popular among crypto enthusiast for backing various cryptocurrencies in the past and should be in possession of some coins too.

Crypto investments are not bad like the Congress made it seem

While it may be true that the congressmen who have been found in possession of crypto assets did not join the crypto spat in March, the parliament has rarely said something favorable about cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin and the altcoins are definitely ‘not a crook’ like Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) claimed at the meeting earlier this year. If it were, then fellow honorable members of Congress would not be investing heavily into it.

In fact, more members of Congress could declare their crypto assets soon, and these would go some way to clear up the wrong impressions about cryptocurrencies which the Assembly has made in the minds of the US populace.

If the House members can quit being a little hypocritical about digital assets, then there’s a chance that more people could become interested in investing in cryptocurrencies.