Stephanie Douse 
Senator Rafael Ted Cruz, a junior Republican politician from Texas purchased between $15k and $50k worth of Bitcoin (BTC) on January 25th, according to a financial report filed on Friday, February 4th.
Bitcoin was selling between $36k and $37k at the time, and it has since increased to its current price of roughly $41,600. His current profit on the purchase is in the range of $2,000 – $6,850, assuming he hasn’t sold his bitcoins and paid any short-term capital gains taxes.
Cruz spent most of the latter half of the crypto bull run connecting himself with the blockchain and cryptocurrency business, following in the footsteps of fellow Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, as his state profited from an influx of Bitcoin mining companies and interest in the issue grew.
He has lobbied for the acceptance of cryptocurrency payments in gift shops and vending machines throughout the United States Capitol complex, and he has spoken out against a provision in the recent infrastructure bill that critics say would broaden the definition of a ‘broker’ to include miners, validators, and coders.
Some crypto miners paused or stopped operations during the current cold weather in Texas to assist maintain the state’s electricity grid infrastructure, which failed during a severe frost in 2021. Cruz was famously absent for a portion of that time since he was vacationing in Cancun, Mexico.
River Financial is licensed in a number of states in the United States, however, their website does not list a Texas Money Transmitter license.
“No currency exchange license is required in Texas to undertake any form of transaction exchanging virtual with sovereign currencies,” according to Texas Department of Banking advice on Virtual Currencies.
Bitcoin proponent politicians
A number of members of Congress have revealed ownership in cryptocurrencies or related equities, including Democrats Jake Auchinloss of Massachusetts and Marie Newman of Illinois, as well as Republicans Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and Barry Moore of Alabama.
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