Congress is taking a hard look at crypto — as an investment opportunity.

CNBC’s analysis revealed that 8 lawmakers, or members of their immediate families, have made cryptocurrency trades in the past year. The bets varied from around $1,000 to up to $100,000.

Six Republicans purchased or sold cryptocurrency, which included Sen. Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania’s ranking member on the banking committee. According to analysis, only one Democrat reported a transaction: Rep. Marie Newman from Illinois.

Bitcoin is the most widely used cryptocurrency, accounting for approximately $229,000 in trades, which includes ETFs. The second most popular cryptocurrency was ether with an estimated $40,000. The meme coin trend was even embraced by lawmakers, who traded around $32,000 worth of dogecoin.

The members of Congress have also experimented with a few lesser-known crypto currencies: Cardano (Stellar), Celo(Chairlink), Basic Attention Token and EOS). 

Every trade is reported in a range rather than as one value. CNBC used the middle of the range for its analysis to total transaction activity. This analysis was based upon congressional financial disclosures as well as information from Capitol Trades (a public database created by 2iQ). 

In the ongoing debate about potential conflicts of interests in Congress, there is another twist in the crypto trades. Legislators and regulators are seeing the crypto industry ramp up their lobbying. weigh new rulesThis sector. However, it isn’t clear whether proposals to ban legislators from trading stocks in crypto are feasible. 

CNBC spoke with Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who introduced legislation to ban stock trading. He said that crypto has different challenges than traditional investments. Brown is the head of Senate Banking Committee. They held Tuesday’s hearing about stablecoins.

“Members shouldn’t sell or buy corporate stock here. “I fought against it for a decade,” said he. “Crypto has more complexity than that.”

Toomey is a vocal opponent to any ban on trading, saying that it would discourage public service. He has stood by existing laws, which mandate financial disclosures. They also prohibit Congress from any insider trading. His investment in crypto was merely an expression of wide financial trends, according to his spokeswoman.

Toomey purchased shares in Grayscale’s ether and bitcoin investment vehicles. Each purchase was valued at between $1,000 and $15,000 

Toomey’s spokesperson said that “crypto has now become an important asset class.” “To that extent, crypto makes up a very modest portion — less than 1% — of his overall investment portfolio.”

Toomey is also an advocate for this industry. He sponsored a bill last year that would have addressed concerns regarding crypto-reporting obligations to the IRS. GOP Senator Cynthia Lummis was one of his co-sponsors. She views the industry as the future frontier of Wyoming. 

Lummis was among the first legislators to invest in cryptocurrency. CNBC previously reported that Lummis bought five bitcoins in 2013 for $300 each. According to financial disclosures, her August investments ranged from $50,000 to $100,000. This story was not confirmed by her office.

CNBC spoke to two lawmakers, however, who have traded cryptocurrency in the last year. They said they supported limits on Congress’ financial activities.

Newman’s financial disclosures reveal that Newman’s husband had invested between $15,000- $50,000 in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust in November. A joint account was used to purchase the Bitcoin Trust in January for between $1,000 and $15,000 The spokesperson said that both transactions were managed by her husband.

He said that Congresswoman Newman has been investing in companies on the basis of public information for many years as part of her family’s savings plan to help pay college tuition and the large family’s health-care expenses. The House has a policy that these trades must be disclosed.

Her spokesman also said Newman supports efforts to limit or ban trading by lawmakers — including in crypto.

CNBC was also informed by Mike Waltz, a Florida Republican Representative. He said he favors limiting stock trading in Congress. However, he wasn’t specific about whether he would support a complete ban or crypto inclusion. 

Waltz purchased bitcoin two times in June. Each time he invested between $15,000 to $50,000. While he stated that the purchases were done on advice from his financial manager, he still believes in the potential of crypto revolutionizing the financial markets. 

CNBC’s Virgilio said that “from a public-policy perspective, crypto and Blockchain are beneficial for consumers because It serves as a hedge to inflation, authoritarian regims hate it and it democratizes currencies for the underserved, who are cut off form traditional capital.”

Rep. Mark Green of Tenn was the top crypto trader over the past 12 months. Representative Mark Green, R-Tenn. reported 16 transactions totaling between $1,000 and $15,000 per transaction. Most of these were through a joint account. He disclosed that he bought dogecoin at six cents per unit on April 1, for example. At 12 cents, he purchased more dogecoin on April 14. When doge was at 50 cents, he sold it on May 11. 

The congressman’s spokeswoman stated that the trades were handled by a financial representative who had written directions not to accept any instructions from him. 

Green told CNBC that instead of having more regulations, the rule-enforcement system is what’s needed. Anyone can search online for every stock owned by any Congressman. I am not able to control how my investments are used. My spouse and I are only licensed brokers.

Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul revealed that his child invested $1,000 to $15,000 in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. A spokeswoman for his office declined comment to this report.

Two other lawmakers who traded crypto — Republicans Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Barry Moore of Alabama — did not respond to requests for comment.