The U.S. Senate is looking to assess the impact of cryptocurrencies on American elections.
The Senate’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism will host a hearing titled “Protecting Our Elections: Examining Shell Companies and Virtual Currencies as Avenues for Foreign Interference” on June 26, according to a scheduled posted on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s .
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham will oversee the hearing. Other details on the hearing are sparse and a list of witnesses has not yet been released.
The Federal Election Commission ruled in 2014 that political campaigns and political action committees may accept bitcoin as a donation under existing federal law. The FEC treats cryptocurrency contributions as “in-kind donations” similar to stocks, bonds and other assets, as previously reported by . However, there are strict limits on the amount that can be donated.
It’s possible that the hearing will see a debate about donors contributing cryptocurrencies to campaigns in the U.S.Brian Forde, a former senior advisor at the Obama administration who ran for Congress, raised approximately $200,000 through cryptocurrencies, with more than $5,000 from his own wallet, as reported in May.
Perhaps the most high-profile example came amid the 2016 presidential election when U.S. Senator and then-presidential candidate Rand Paul bitcoin donations.
image via Shutterstock
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Published at Fri, 22 Jun 2018 17:10:49 +0000
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