On-chain analysis shows that Rep. Madison Cawthorn made several undisclosed trades of Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) based token Let's Go Brandon (CRYPTO: LGB).
What Happened: On Wednesday, CoinDesk identified the congressman’s Ethereum wallet after cross-referencing public disclosures, on-chain data, and people familiar with his trades.
CoinDesk’s analysis found that Cawthorn most likely lost money on his cryptocurrency trades despite some early wins. Still, the timing of a number of trades potentially implicates him in engaging in insider trading.
A timeline of Cawthorn’s trades revealed that he received 180 billion LGB tokens worth $150,000 from hedge fund manager James Koutoulas on Dec. 21. The Congressman then predicted that the token would “go to the moon” in an Instagram post on December 29.
Between Dec. 30 and 31, LGB surged 70% after NASCAR driver Brandon Brown said that his car would feature the token’s branding for the race season.
At this time, Cawthorn’s wallet was observed trading 65.8 billion LGB tokens worth $105,000 on decentralized exchange Uniswap (CRYPTO: UNI) and subsequently sent 26.3 ETH to a Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) wallet.
On January 4, NASCAR publicly dismissed its affiliation with LGB and said that Brown’s car livery would not feature any aspect of the token. LGB's price fell sharply following the announcement.
Cawthorn’s congressional disclosures show that he purchased ETH on December 31 but fails to mention any sales, reported CoinDesk. His wallet transaction history also shows that he made a series of trades after this date, in violation of a law that requires congressmen to disclose investments within 45 days of a trade.
See Also: 'Patriotic' Meme Coin 'Let's Go Brandon' Sees Another 19% Slump After Donald Trump's Endorsement
Photo via Gage Skidmore on Wikimedia
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