Is this the worst Congressional crypto trade yet?

Though J.D. Vance and Ted Cruz have been much discussed for their cryptocurrency – and primarily Bitcoin (BTC) – holdings, they have been far from the most prolific digital assets traders among U.S. politicians.

Representative Mike Collins of Georgia’s 10th congressional district has been an active cryptocurrency trader with an affinity for altcoins and meme coins. Since late 2023, he has reported dozens of trades involving coins and tokens such as Ethereum (ETH), Velodrome (VELO), and Aerodrome (AERO).

As the latest filings retrieved with Finbold’s Congressional trading tracker – and as Finbold’s earlier coverage – revealed, Collins has been active in the cryptocurrency market in 2025 as well, and his latest three trades – all reported on February 3 – involved ETH and Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL).

Specifically, the Representative purchased up to $15,000 worth of ETH and up to $15,000 of VIRTUAL on January 3. Though he, by press time, retains the Ethereum, he sold Virtuals Protocol already on January 12.

Did Representative Collins sell VIRTUAL on the worst possible day?

The VIRTUAL trade might be one of his worst to date as the cryptocurrency was trading at approximately $4.30 on January 3 and collapsed to about $2.70 by January 12 – though it is worth pointing out there were substantial price fluctuations within both days.

Had Representative Collins held the position – worth up to $15,000 – for several days longer, he could have offloaded VIRTUAL near his buying price. The cryptocurrency reached a temporary high above $3.80 on January 15.

VIRTUAL YTD price chart. Source: FInbold

On the other hand, had the gentleman from Georgia decided to hodl, he would have faced losses up to $9,500 instead of the actual maximum of approximately $5,600 as Virtuals Protocol is, at press time on February 4, changing hands at $1.59.

Is Representative Collins up on his January ETH bet?

The situation with the January 3 Ethereum isn’t much better other than because the loss is unrealized at press time. Specifically, ETH was trading at approximately $3,500 – though, again, with significant fluctuations within the day – and it is, at press time, trading at $2,778.79 following an 18.46% year-to-date (YTD) drop.

ETH YTD price chart. Source: FInbold

This means that in addition to losing up to $5,600 on VIRTUAL, Representative Collins could be down to as little as $11,909.10 on ETH out of the original investment that could have been as big as $15,000.

Featured image via Shutterstock