Texas Senator Ted Cruz Discloses $50,000 Bitcoin Purchase During Dip

A recent financial disclosure with the U.S. Senate revealed that Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) purchased up to $50,000 in bitcoin during its dip last month.

With Bitcoin’s value dipping below the $40k level in the first month of this year, many crypto enthusiasts saw it as an opportunity to harp into the space.

On Jan. 25, the Texas senator bought between $15,001 to $50,000 of bitcoin, according to the new financial disclosure. He says he used River Brokerage to purchase the asset when bitcoin was trading around $36,000 and $37,000 during a sell-off.

While the cryptocurrency’s value has since risen to above $40,000 over the subsequent days, this means that his purchase should have gained at least $2,000, as of press time.

Texas a New Crypto Mining Hub?

The lawmaker’s purchase is not overly surprising considering the fact that he is one of the few vocal supporters of the blockchain and crypto industry among legislators in the U.S. Congress. As recently as November last year, Senator Cruz proposed that merchants serving Congress should be allowed to have the option of receiving their payments in crypto.

To Texas’ advantage, Cruz publicly supporting cryptocurrency, specifically, bitcoin, adds to the state’s onward march towards becoming a new crypto mining hub.

Due to its litany of pro-crypto policies and cheap electricity, Texas quickly has become a choice location for many Bitcoin miners who have been looking for affordable energy sources to mine the digital asset.

The city of Austin has also reportedly entered into a partnership with CityCoins for its AustinCoin ATX. Mining for AustinCoin ATX has not yet started, however.

CityCoins, a nonprofit and opensource protocol that runs on the Stacks (STX) blockchain, currently plays host to the city of Miami’s MiamiCoin ($MIA) and New York City’s NYCCoin – both of whom are the first two cities to launch its own cryptocurrency that pays out dividends to its citizens in bitcoin.

Rumor has it that the city of Philadelphia will soon be joining as a potential third in CityCoins’ growing portfolio, with Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and chief information officer Mark Wheeler expressing their public support for joining CityCoins.