Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican, poses for a photograph at the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., on November 9, 2020.
Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) just revealed a large bitcoin purchase as the crypto supporter continued growing her stake in volatile asset.
According to Thursday's filing, the Republican senator purchased the largest cryptocurrency in the world on Aug. 16, valued between $50,001 and $100,000. The 45-day reporting deadline for The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK Act) was not met.
She is a long-time bitcoin bull and has praised Wyoming for being a leader in the development of financial institutions that can work with crypto. CNBC previously reported that she purchased her first bitcoin in 2013 at $330 per token. She also stated that she had five bitcoins by the end of June.
Congress must disclose within 45 days the purchase or sale of individual stocks, bonds, and commodity futures under the 2012 STOCK Act. Other assets, such as mutual funds and EIFs, are exempted from the 45-day disclosure requirement and must be disclosed only once per year. Different reporting schedules place emphasis on the disclosure of trades that could potentially be used to profit off non-public information.
Lummis' spokesperson told CNBC that Lummis had made a mistake in filing the disclosure.
The spokesperson stated that "once we realized it, we worked with Ethics committee to fix the issue." The spokesperson stated that it was an honest error and that the matter has been resolved without any penalty.
Lummis and two senators had tried to insert an amend into the Senate's infrastructure bill. This would have restricted who could be a broker in crypto currency and, by extension, protected those who weren't brokers. The amendment was blocked.
Bitcoin traded at $54,000 on Wednesday, a five-month high. This rally is a result of a few small developments in Washington, which have given some comfort to institutional investors who are keen to invest in cryptocurrencies.
Lummis' disclosure of bitcoin transactions has been scrutinized before. She filed her annual financial disclosure with the Senate in April, but didn't include bitcoin. Lummis submitted an amended disclosure a week later that showed she had bitcoins worth between $100,000 and $250,000.
According to Quiver Quantitative (an alternative data company that tracks senators' trading activity), Lummis' stake was one of the first congressional cryptocurrency purchase.
According to Quiver Quantitative, the filing said that Senator Pat Toomey (Republican from Pennsylvania) made the only notable cryptocurrency bet. He bought Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETH), up to $15,000 Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, (BTC) and up $15,000 Grayscale Ethereum Trusts (ETH) between June and July.
Lummis stated previously that she would like to see retirement funds invest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrency.
Lummis stated in a June CNBC interview that "I would love to see cryptocurrency like bitcoin become part of an diversified asset allocation that is used in retirement funds, and other opportunities for individuals to save for the future."
Christina Wilkie, CNBC, contributed reporting.
