Benzinga | Jul 8, 2021 05:45PM EDT

US Sen. Pat Toomey Bullish On Bitcoin, Ethereum Via Grayscale Trusts

A member of the U.S. Senate made purchases of two of the most well-known Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) trusts.

What Happened: Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, purchased stakes in the Bitcoin and Ethereum trusts, according to filings shared by Congresstrading.com.

The purchases were:

* June 14: Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTC:GBTC), $1,000 to $5,000

* June 15: Grayscale Ethereum Trust (OTC:ETHE), $1,000 to $5,000

Both trusts have traded down from when they were purchased by Toomey.

Related Link: Congressman Barry Moore Buys Dogecoin, Other Cryptos, Here Are The Details

Why It's Important: With the purchases, Toomey becomes one of the first Senators to take stakes in Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Senator Cynthia Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming, has held Bitcoin for many years and has a return of over 10,000%.

Toomey has spoken out on cryptocurrency regulation recently urging the Department of Treasury to revise current regulation proposals.

"While I recognize that these proposals are seeking to address the misuse of cryptocurrencies for illicit activity, if adopted, they would have a detrimental impact on financial technology, the fundamental privacy of Americans and efforts to combat illicit activity," Toomey said.

Cryptocurrency could improve customers' privacy and access to financial services, Toomey argued.

Price Action GBTC shares are down 4.70% to $27.40 on Thursday. The trust has traded between $9.13 and $58.22 over the last year.

ETHE shares are down 9.87% to $20.74 Thursday. The trust has traded between $4.23 and $42.23 over the last year.

Related Link: Want to learn more about cryptocurrency? Check out the Benzinga Crypto channel on YouTube.

Photo: U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr