Congressmen who are currently HODLing or actively trading crypto may need to stop doing so while in office if recent attempts to ban lawmakers from investing in stocks gain enough support.
In a Monday letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, 27 members of the US House of Representatives. called for action "to prohibit members of Congress from owning or dealing in stock." Among the bipartisan group of lawmakers who signed the letter was Illinois Congressman Bill Foster, who is also a member of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus. In addition, the letter appears to have the support of diametrically opposed politicians on important issues such as progressive Democrat Rashida Tlaib and Republican Matt Gaetz, who is reportedly under investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly violating sex trafficking laws and obstruction of justice.
Currently, members of Congress can buy, sell, and trade stocks and other investments while in office, but they are also required to disclose such moves by the Stop Trading in the Knowledge of Congress Act, or STOCK Act, passed in 2012. . This law requires legislators to report any purchase, sale or exchange of more than $1,000 within 30 to 45 days, but there are minimal financial and legal consequences for not applying on time. Monday's letter noted that the STOCK Act "has been violated hundreds of times since 2020 alone."
"It is clear that the current rules are not working," the letter to Pelosi and McCarthy said. โCongress should close these loopholes simply by prohibiting members from owning or trading individual stocks while in office. In addition to ensuring that members' access to information does not benefit them over the public when trading stocks, as the STOCK Act sought, this would end the potential corruption of legislators seeking policy outcomes that benefit their portfolios."
House members added:
โThere is no reason why members of Congress should be allowed to trade stocks when we should be focused on doing our jobs and serving our constituents. Perhaps this means that some of our colleagues will miss out on lucrative investment opportunities. We don't care. We came to Congress to serve our country, not to make a quick buck."
Senators Jon Ossoff and Mark Kelly proposed similar legislation for the US Senate on January 12. Ossoff referenced a poll by advocacy group United States Action Convention, which found that about 76% of voters saying that lawmakers and their spouses had an "unfair advantage and should not be allowed to trade stocks while serving in Congress."
Speaker Pelosi does not appear to have responded to the House members' letter. However, when asked about a possible ban on lawmakers trading stocks in December, she saying โWe are a free market economy; They should be able to participate in that.โ
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezโwhose name did not appear in the letter to House Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyโ said in december she believed that members should not hold or trade individual shares, hinting that doing so would allow them to "remain impartial about making policy". He added that he extended this belief to the possession of digital assets and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC).
Related: House memo details congressional priorities ahead of crypto CEO hearing
Cointelegraph reported last Tuesday that seven members of Congress, both the Senate and the House, had declared investments in crypto during his time in office. Among the lawmakers with the most reported exposure are New Jersey Rep. Jefferson Van Drew and Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who revealed a 2020 investment of $250,000 in a trust operated by Grayscale, and a BTC purchase. in 2021 up to $100,000, respectively.
Cointelegraph reached out to representative Bill Foster for comment but did not receive a response at press time.
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