US House Representative Madison Cawthorn has been fined over $15,000 by the House Ethics Committee for promoting an altcoin project in which she has an undisclosed investment. Here are the details…
Altcoin promotion penalty to Madison Cawthorn
6, after a seven-month investigation by the committee, it found that Cawthorn “inappropriately promoted a cryptocurrency with a financial interest” in violation of conflict of interest rules. Cawthorn’s “direct and clear” promotional comment on social media followed the Agent’s undisclosed purchase of $150,000 worth of tokens in December 2021.
After Cawthorn managed to buy around 180 billion, he introduced the Ethereum-based Let’s Go Brandon (LETSGO) token, named after a slogan and meme that replaces the phrase “F — Joe Biden”. The $150,000 that Cawthorn paid to an unnamed person with an interest in the token attracted attention. With that money, he bought 180 billion LETSGOs, with an average value of about $164,200 at the time. Cawthorn also paid no transaction fees. According to cryptokoin.com data, the coin is currently changing hands at $0.00000001647.
Donate $15,000 to charities
The $14,237 difference between the amount Cawthorn paid and the average value at the time he received the tokens was considered a “gift” by the Committee. The committee recommended that Cawthorn repay this money to “an appropriate charity.” After purchasing the tokens on December 21, 2021, Cawthorn sold “almost all” in three lots. It faced an overall loss of about $7,500 through late January 2022. The committee “did not reach a consensus” as to whether Cawthorn intended to “personally profit from promotional activities”.
We found “sufficient evidence” that Cawthorn used non-public information to time his transactions. The committee further stated that “Cawthorn failed to submit reports describing his cryptocurrency-related transactions to Parliament in a timely manner.” However, the requirements for crypto disclosures are “relatively new,” according to the report. Therefore, the Committee found that the shortcomings in Cawthorn’s statement were not “knowingly or willfully”.
Cawthorn is leaving his post in January.
The agent is currently required to submit a transaction report detailing the buying and selling of tokens. He will also be required to pay a $1,000 late fee with his donation of over $14,000. Cawthorn announced that it owns more than 15.3 billion LETSGOs with a current value of less than $25.50.
The representative served one year in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District. However, he was defeated by North Carolina Senator Chuck Edwards in a Republican party primary in May. Therefore, he will leave his post in January 2023.
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