The US Senate is looking to access the impact of cryptocurrencies on American elections. The efforts will be gathered in a hearing which is titled “Protecting Our Elections: Examining Shell Companies and Virtual Currencies as Avenues for Foreign Interference” which will take place on June 26th, according to a scheduled event posted on the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s website.
The South Carolina Senator, Lindsey Graham, will be the person overseeing the hearing. The list of witnesses is yet unknown.
What’s known is that the Federal Election Commission ruled in 2014 that political campaigns and committees may accept Bitcoin as a donation under the existing federal law. The FEC currently treats cryptocurrency contributions as “in-kind donations” which are similar to stocks, bonds, and other assets. Still, there are many strict limits on the amounts that can be donated.
From this, it is very possible that this hearing will see a debate about the crypto donations and if they should be extended or regulated in a better way. Brian Forde, who is a former senior advisor at the Obama administration which ran for Congress, raised more than $200,000 through cryptocurrencies with more than $5,000 from his own wallet, according to earlier Politico reports.
To date, the most high-profile example of cryptocurrency donations was the 2016 presidential election when the US Senator and then-presidential candidate Rand Paul started accepting Bitcoin donations.
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