US Congressmen Start to Disclose Their Crypto Ownership

Bob Goodlatte, Republican congressman from Virginia and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in the US, holds as much as USD 80,000 in cryptocurrency, according to a Sludge report on Monday, citing the congressman’s annual financial disclosure.

Following new rules passed in June this year, members of the House of Representatives are now required to disclose any holdings of cryptocurrency along with other financial assets on an annual basis. According to the disclosure, at the time Goodlatte owned up to USD 50,000 in Bitcoin, and up to USD 15,000 each in Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum.

While the disclosure from Goodlatte was filed before the new rules about disclosure of cryptocurrency holdings went into effect, it is expected that several other members of Congress will report holdings of cryptocurrencies before next year’s deadline.

In addition, Sludge reports that Goodlatte’s son, Bobby Goodlatte Jr., is an investor in the popular US-based fiat-to-crypto exchange Coinbase. Goodlatte Jr. has been an outspoken bitcoin bull, tweeting in May about his investment case for Bitcoin and why it is a better investment than any startup.

Sludge further points out that one of the richest members of Congress, Democrat Jared Polis of Colorado was a co-founder of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, which, among other things, have introduced legislation to facilitate the adoption of blockchain technology in the government.