Texas Senator Ted Cruz went heavy into bitcoin last month, buying up to $50,000 worth of the cryptocurrency while prices were cratering.
The Republican lawmaker bought between $15,001 to $50,000 of bitcoin on Jan.25, according to a financial disclosure, and used financial brokerage River to make the payment.
Cruz made the purchase at a time when bitcoin prices were in free fall, sliding below $40,000 after reaching $70,000 in November.
Bitcoin prices appear to have stabilized and were up 2.6% to $42,741 at last check Monday.
Cruz's move comes at a time when Joe Biden's administration is working to regulate the cryptocurrency industry.
Cruz has been a staunch crypto supporter. In November, he proposed allowing crypto payments at the gift shops and vending machines at the US Capitol complex located in Washington, DC.
In August, he spoke out against what he called “harmful regulations” on the cryptocurrency industry in the $1 trillion bipartisan Senate infrastructure bill.
"Let’s recognize if we gathered all 100 senators in this chamber and asked them to stand up and articulate two sentences defining what in the hell a cryptocurrency is that you would not get greater than five who could answer that question," Cruz said.
'Oasis for the Blockchain Community'
Cruz isn't the only senator buying into crypto. In August, Senator Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., bought bitcoin worth between $50,001 to $100,000. Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey has also bought into cryptocurrency.
Cruz has said that he is proud that the Lone Star State "is becoming an oasis for the blockchain community, for bitcoin miners, for innovators and entrepreneurs in the crypto world.”
In recent years, Texas has attracted a growing number of crypto miners, the Texas Tribune reported, as they look to take advantage of to the state’s cheap energy and aversion to regulation.
The Texas Blockchain Council said on its website that its mission is "to promote blockchain technology initiatives that drive growth and benefit the citizens of Texas."
Last week crypto miners powered down their operations ahead of a major winter storm to ease the burden on the state's power grid. Texas was hit with a devastating ice storm in February 2021.
Officials said 246 people died in the storm and Cruz was criticized for traveling to Mexico. He later called his trip a mistake.
