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CryptoIntelligence 2025-01-04 08:12:00

U.S. Representative Discloses Crypto Investment as New Congress Session Begins

As the 119th session of the United States Congress approached, Representative Mike Collins of Georgia filed a financial disclosure on New Year’s Day revealing exposure to cryptocurrency. In a report submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives on Jan. 1, Collins disclosed purchasing between $1,001 and $15,000 of Ski Mask Dog (SKI), a token launched in May 2024. The report, along with one filed in December, showed that Collins made three separate purchases of SKI, each up to $15,000, between Dec. 1 and Dec. 3. These transactions occurred roughly a month after the U.S. election, during a period when many cryptocurrency prices were surging. Collins, a Republican who represents Georgia’s 10th congressional district, won reelection in November with more than 63% of the vote against Democratic candidate Lexy Doherty. Although it is unclear if his investment in SKI is tied to his election victory, Collins has previously disclosed holdings in Ether (ETH), Velodrome (VELO), Aerodrome Finance (AERO), and The Graph (GRT). Under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, U.S. lawmakers must disclose their stock and cryptocurrency transactions. As of Jan. 3, Collins appeared to be the first member of Congress to file a financial disclosure report in 2025. The price of SKI was under $0.01 before the U.S. elections on Nov. 5. It surged to an all-time high of over $0.35 on Dec. 5 before dropping to around $0.25 at the time of publication. Some lawmakers, like Senators Ted Cruz and Cynthia Lummis, have also disclosed crypto investments, though Collins has not made digital assets a central focus of his policy agenda. He has supported legislation praised by the crypto industry, including the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act. Critics of current disclosure policies, however, argue that lawmakers’ investments present potential conflicts of interest. A bipartisan group of senators has called for amending the STOCK Act to ban stock trading by members of Congress, though it remains unclear if similar measures will be taken in the upcoming session.