On June 8, Cawthorn filed more reports of crypto trades he made in January to March, reflecting 24 purchases totaling between $290,000 to $950,000 in crypto projects including Kryll, Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin, Let's Go Brandon, and Request.
Representative Madison Cawthorn belatedly reports up to $950,000 in crypto trades, long past the STOCK Act deadline
Representative Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) is facing an ethics investigation pertaining to his involvement with the Let's Go Brandon coin, which includes allegations of insider trading as well as not disclosing his cryptocurrency trades as is required by the STOCK Act. After the investigation was announced in May, Cawthorn disclosed purchases of LGB and ETH, far past the 45-day deadline imposed by the Act.
Representative Madison Cawthorn under ethics investigation related to crypto, violated STOCK Act
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics announced on May 23 that they had unanimously voted to investigate whether Representative Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) "improperly promoted a cryptocurrency in which he may have had an undisclosed financial interest", as well as one unrelated allegation.
On May 26, Cawthorn filed a disclosure to say he had bought between $100,000 and $250,000 of the "Let's Go Brandon" ($LGB) coin on December 21 — eight days before posting that the coin would "go to the moon" just before a deal with NASCAR was announced. The coin then went up in price and Cawthorn sold at least $100,000 of his holdings. This timing led to accusations that Cawthorn had advance knowledge of the partnership.
Cawthorn also disclosed in the same May 26 filing that he bought between $101,000 and $265,000 of Ethereum in late December. Although Congressmembers are required by the STOCK Act to disclose purchases of various assets (including cryptocurrencies) within 45 days of the transaction, Cawthorn's disclosure came five months after the purchase. Cawthorn recently lost his primary, ending his chances of re-election, but his current term isn't slated to end until January 2023.
- Statement of the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics Regarding Representative Madison Cawthorn
- "Rep. Madison Cawthorn discloses 2021 ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ cryptocurrency purchase days after ethics probe announced", CNBC
- "GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn failed to properly disclose 'Let's Go Brandon' and Ethereum cryptocurrency purchases", Business Insider
Representative Madison Cawthorn faces accusations of insider trading and disclosure violations related to Let's Go Brandon coin
North Carolina Representative Madison Cawthorn was one of several influential people who helped to promote the "Let's Go Brandon" memecoin, which has since become the subject of a class-action lawsuit due to a reported pump-and-dump scheme. Cawthorn is not named in the lawsuit, but he may face his own troubles: although he has claimed to own the currency, he has never publicly disclosed any stake in the coin as is likely required by ethics legislation. Cawthorn also commented "Tomorrow we go to the moon!" on a post about the coin from his official Instagram account, the day before the team of NASCAR driver Brandon Brown announced the cryptocurrency would be the primary partner for the 2022 season. "This looks really, really bad," said governmental watchdog group member Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette. "This does look like a classic case of you got some insider information and acting on that information. And that's illegal."
Class action lawsuit filed against "Let's Go Brandon" coin creators for alleged pump-and-dump
A class-action lawsuit filed by Missouri investor Eric De Ford claims that the people behind the pro-Trump "Let's Go Brandon" (LGB) memecoin misled investors about a NASCAR sponsorship deal and celebrity backing. LGB coin had nearly reached an agreement to be the primary sponsor for NASCAR driver Brandon Brown, but the sponsorship was axed by NASCAR shortly after LGB coin announced it. Regardless, those behind the coin allegedly continued to promote the coin as though the NASCAR sponsorship was in motion, even as the token value cratered. The lawsuit alleges that "Defendants pushed the LGB Tokens as a means of promoting the American dream, while simultaneously touting the prospects for LGB Tokens and the ability for investors to make significant returns from the LGB Tokens like other so-called 'meme coin' digital assets... In truth, Defendants cynically marketed the LGB Tokens to investors so that they could sell off their portion of the Float for a profit."
De Ford has named the LGB coin creators in the suit, as well as NASCAR, and promoters like Brandon Brown and Candace Owens.
"Let's Go Brandon" coin suddenly drops 50% in value
The "Let's Go Brandon" $LGB coin tied to NASCAR driver Brandon Brown, and created as an apparent way to support "the American dream" and stick it to Joe Biden (somehow), suddenly dropped 50% in value. This appeared to be the death knell of a coin that had been dropping precipitously since the early January announcement by NASCAR that they would be rescinding their approval for LGBcoin to sponsor Brown.