Sitting members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have an informational edge over the public. Worse still, they regulate the very industries they so often invest in — and they tend to secure impressive returns for themselves in the process.
The cryptocurrency space, however, is much less regulated on the whole — and politicians on Capitol Hill have a much smaller advantage when it comes to this asset class. But, with the outsized returns that cryptocurrencies have provided, it was only a matter of time before lawmakers began to dip their toes in the water, so to speak.
In many ways, 2024 was a year of firsts — we saw the first congressional meme coin purchase from Georgia representative Michael Collins, who purchased Ski Mask Dog (SKI) in early December, as well as the first congressional purchase of XRP — which was executed by Pennsylvanian representative Guy Reschenthaler on December 11.
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The second purchase is much more significant, however — as interesting as Collins’ bet on SKI was, it appears to be a random stroke of luck. In contrast, Reschenthaler’s investment has seen a 40% return — and in a rare case when it comes to crypto, the congressman might have had an information advantage.
Congressman’s XRP purchase nets a 40% gain in a little over a month
Per a periodic transaction report made public on January 9, the Pennsylvania congressman invested between $1,001 and $15,000 in XRP on December 11, a time when the digital asset was trading at a price of $2.35.
Since then, the price of XRP has surged to $3.29 — by press time on January 16, the token had marked a 10.29% gain on the daily chart. The rally was driven primarily by better-than-expected inflation numbers — as well as a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appeal brief against Ripple Labs that was widely judged to be lackluster.
All in all, XRP has seen prices increase by exactly 40% since Reschenthaler’s purchase. At present, his holdings could be worth anywhere from $1,401 to $21,000 — in other words, the representative earned between $400 and $6,000 on XRP alone.
Reschenthaler isn’t your run-of-the-mill congressman — as the Republican party’s chief Deputy Whip in Congress, he is instrumental in maintaining party discipline.
Being somewhat of an insider within the party, he is well-positioned to get wind of Trump’s intentions early — and currently, most analysts expect the President-elect’s SEC picks to dismiss the case against Ripple soon after the inauguration.
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