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* Daily Beast…
For better or worse, despite the popularity of Bitcoin and alternative coins, crypto isn’t likely to disrupt the campaign finance world any time soon. While a number of young candidates made media splashes in the 2020 cycle by announcing that their campaigns would accept Bitcoin contributions, the current federal rules restrict those donations to a degree that reduces such announcements to little more than PR stunt.
Despite the explosive growth of cryptocurrencies in the last year, however, those rules aren’t formalized. They stem from a 2014 Federal Election Commission advisory opinion specific to Bitcoin, but which allows room for materially similar transactions that would extend to alternative denominations as well. Candidates looking to appeal to new donors through cryptocurrency also bristle at other restrictions, such as the $100 cap on individual contributions—roughly three percent of the $2,900 limit for donations made with cards or checks.
But the FEC argues these policies aren’t simply one more instance of a stodgy federal government unwilling or unable to adapt to a transformative new technology. From the agency’s perspective, the features most responsible for crypto’s appeal—privacy and institutional independence—pose threats to the very foundation of campaign finance law.
* So I asked Matt Dietrich at the Illinois State Board of Elections about cryptocurrency regulations here…
Cryptocurrency isn’t mentioned anywhere in statute. In theory, it’s not restricted but it must be accurately reported. We haven’t had cryptocurrency contributions reported, but when we’ve had questions about it we advised candidates to report it as an investment.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, May 21, 21 @ 9:09 am
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“”we advised candidates to report it as an investment”"
smart.
Comment by walker Friday, May 21, 21 @ 9:14 am
Some folks seem to believe Bitcoin is magically untraceable. But the point of the block chain technology underpinning it is a verified chain of custody from Digital wallet to wallet, an unhackabe ledger. So not sure just how
“dark” the dark money in crypto currency actually becomes. But the feds have demonstrated they can find the sender and recipient without much trouble. So why would dark donors even play with this stuff, I dunno. Currently it’s mostly something like that craze to buy investments in various precious metals. It’s extremely volatile, and you are gambling the longer you hold it. Agree at this stage it’s more of a PR stunt.
Comment by Give Us Barabbas Friday, May 21, 21 @ 9:45 am