Rep. Cawthorn’s Crypto Wallet Reveals Undisclosed Trades During Investigation
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June 5, 2022 2:10 pm
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Investigators have been examining whether or not Rep. Cawthorn had promoted the “Lets Go Brandon” (LBG) coin in an improper way.
Initial allegations against Cawthorn included possible insider trading and involvement in a pump and dump scheme which was what prompted the House Ethics Committee to initiate the investigation in the first place.
Some results of the investigation indicated that the Congressman had purchased around $250, 000 worth of LGB on December 2021 of last year.
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There is nothing preventing a member of Congress from purchasing crypto, but the rule states that the purchases have to be reported within 45 days of making them.
According to the records, Cawthorn reported his purchase roughly 5 months after the required date which may put him in trouble with the House Committee of Ethics.
Wild chain of events:
Dec 21: Madison Cawthorn buys up to $250k in Let's Go Brandon Coin
Dec 29: His IG post predicts LGB is going "to the moon"
Dec 30: Previously undisclosed endorsement deal sends LGB skyrocketing
Dec 31: Cawthorn sells off LGB holdingshttps://t.co/yioN3uPJly— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) June 1, 2022
CryptoPotato.com reports:
According to the financial disclosures released on Friday, the young Congressman purchased up to $250,000 worth of LGB on December 21. On the 27th and 31st of the same month, he also purchased up to $265,000 worth of Ethereum.
With the rising interest in virtual currencies, the House Committee on Ethics published a memorandum to Representatives and staffers in 2018, outlining that financial disclosure filings must include ownership details of “purchases, sales or exchanges of cryptocurrencies” worth more than $1,000.
Cawthorn is expected to face a minimum fine of $200, but he may receive a waive from the House Committee on Ethics.
He reportedly joined 60 other lawmakers who failed to “disclose any stock trade made by themselves, a spouse, or a dependent child.”
The value of the LGB coin has also experienced a reverse in price since its last bull rally which may indicate that Cawthorn’s trade had not worked out too well for him.
The LGB coin market cap had peaked around $570 million towards the end of 2021 but much of that value was lost in the coming months.
Cawthorn had also been actively promoting the LGB coin before the crash which is why there were accusations of pump and dump scheme.
Some people are accusing him of have insider knowledge that the crash would happen before hand and may have been one of the reasons for why the House Committee is investigating the case to see if Cawthorn had any undisclosed financial interests for doing so.
Madison Cawthorn's crypto trades have sparked an ethics inquiry. But the House member probably lost money on his alleged LGB coin "pump and dump."
I dug up Cawthorn's crypto wallet to show how his $150,000 bet went sideways.https://t.co/oJdPsfsHcn
— Danny Nelson (@realDannyNelson) June 2, 2022
CoinDesk reports:
On closer inspection, however, Cawthorn’s LGB trades don’t appear to have worked out “very well” at all. He’s at best close to even; at worst, he’s down bad from a mix of taxable capital gains and the bear market slump.
Cawthorn’s team didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. A spokesperson told a local paper on Wednesday that the lawmaker is being “falsely accused by partisan adversaries for political gain.”
CoinDesk’s editorial policy gives great weight to the crypto-community value of privacy and therefore requires an overwhelming public interest before revealing the individuals behind pseudonymous blockchain addresses or internet handles.
In this case, there is clearly such an interest, given Cawthorn’s position as an elected official and the allegations under investigation.
Despite presumably having insider information (Cawthorn met with the creators of $LGB the day before a sponsorship deal with a Nascar driver was announced, did many promotional Tweets) he may have lost money, missing most of the December pump and handicapping himself with fees pic.twitter.com/0CfQRnxO2k
— Andrew T (@Blockanalia) June 1, 2022
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