FEC OKs Political Bitcoin Donations

May 9, 2014 by

Image credit: Antana Coins

Bitcoin is set to head to the political ring.

The US Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced that political committees could accept small bitcoin donations of up to $100.

The FEC voted 6-0 in favor of allowing donations, and they will be treated as in-kind donations, similar to the treatment of securities or stocks.

Before spending them, the political committees will have to report the value of the bitcoin donations at the time of acceptance.

They will also have to turn them back into dollars as to not skip out on paying taxes for realized gains (or losses).

As for the question of whether bitcoin can be spent directly for goods and services, the FEC remains undecided.

Since this is only guidance and not a strict rule, it would not technically be illegal for political action committees to accept greater amounts of bitcoin, though there are certainly some risks in doing so pending future rules.

Members of the FEC disagreed on whether the $100 limit should be enforced, with FEC Chairman Lee Goodman stating that the limit should be $2,600 for individual donations to candidates – the same as the federal cap on other forms of value for donations.

A few political candidates were quick to start accepting bitcoin, with one, Democrat Jared Polis, set to run for re-election to the House of Representatives.

Prior to today’s guidance, Wisconsin Democrat, Mark Clear who is running for assemblyman rejected a $100 bitcoin donation in early May due to the state’s Government Accountability Board’s disallowing these donations due to its reputation for anonymity.

Tags: , ,

Related Articles