Congresswoman Bought Crypto at the Top, Probably Stomaching Losses

Financial filings show that Tulsi Gabbard, U.S congresswoman representing Hawaii, invested in ether (ETH)and litecoin (LTC) in December last year when cryptocurrency prices were at their highest.

According to Business Insider’s report, the financial information declared by the Democrat shows that she invested between $1001 and $15000 in ethereum and litecoin. The precise amounts she spent on the cryptocurrencies, were, however, not revealed in her financial disclosure form filed on 14th August. The exact dates on which the purchases were made is also unknown.

The congresswoman, who has been in office for three terms, revealed information on her crypto purchases eight months after she made the transactions. She happened to have bought at a time when the cryptocurrency market was at its peak with bitcoin and other currencies at their all-time-highs.

The crypto market has been in a slump since December. Coinmarketcap.com’s historical snapshot from 31st December 2017 shows that the market cap of bitcoin was $220.9 billion at the end of that year. At the time of writing, the market cap of the top cryptocurrency stood at $111 billion, roughly half of the December 31st figure. The market cap of the entire cryptomarket dropped even lower from about $800 billion to 208 billion over the same period.

Although the times or prices of the congresswoman’s purchases are unknown, her crypto holdings would still be worth far less in U.S dollar terms even if she bought in at the lowest prices of December 2017.

According to statistics from coinmarketcap.com, the lowest ether and litecoin prices in December 2017 were $414 and $83 respectively. After comparing those prices to today’s $272.99 for ether and $55.66 for litecoin, it is clear the congresswoman has taken some loses in dollar terms.

Political Warming to Crypto?

Congresswoman Gabbard follows in the footsteps of the chairman of the judiciary committee and the first member of Congress to reveal his crypto holdings, Bob Goodlatte.

Moves like theirs, the positive Senate hearing by CFTC Chairman Giancarlo and politicians accepting crypto donations have been interpreted by some crypto community members as signs that the U.S government could be more welcoming towards cryptocurrencies in the future.