Historically, U.S. politicians have focused on traditional investments like stocks and bonds, which has led to rumors of insider trading among some who made substantial profits through the stock market. Recently, a notable shift occurred when a leading U.S. politician invested in cryptocurrency, moving away from traditional financial instruments.
This politician’s crypto investment took place just days before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a spot Bitcoin ETF. Despite the approval, U.S. Representative Michael Collins opted for Ethereum (ETH), the leading altcoin, investing $65,000.
Collins made two separate Ethereum purchases on January 3 and January 8, which was shortly followed by the SEC’s approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10. However, according to the tracker account ‘Unusual Whales,’ these weren’t Collins’s first Ethereum purchases; he had previously bought ETH three times in 2023.
The total amount invested by Collins in Ethereum in the past was around $75,000. Since his first purchase, Ethereum’s price has surged by 59%, with over 16% of that increase occurring in the last week alone, pushing ETH’s price above $2,600.
While some speculate on the potential approval of a spot BTC ETF, Collins’s commitment to Ethereum might be seen as an investment in the future. Following the SEC’s approval of 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10, Bloomberg’s leading ETF analyst Eric Balchunas suggests that a spot Ethereum ETF could also be approved within the year, with a 70% chance by May.