California Overturns Ban on Political Crypto Donations

The Fair Political Practices Commission of California has walked back a previous ban against crypto donations to political campaigners.

article-image

California State Capitol | Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • The state of California has overturned a near four-year ban against political crypto donations
  • Crypto contributions will need to be verified via a name, address and other revealing details

California’s political campaign financing watchdog approved measures Thursday allowing state and local offices the right to raise funds using crypto once more.

Previous regulation had denied political campaigners the right to raise or receive funds via crypto. The ruling was repealed in late May.

Thanks to a recent vote by California’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), those running for office may now receive funding in the nascent asset class — provided it’s converted to fiat immediately.

The FPPC’s motion on “Regulation 18421.2 Cryptocurrency Contributions,” put forth last month, reverses a ban implemented during crypto’s prior bear market in November 2018.

An unrelated financial limit on campaign contributions remains in place for California, which now joins 12 other states and the District of Colombia in approving crypto donations.

Concerns over how crypto could interfere with campaign transparency led the FPPC to deny its use for political campaigns, though the digital asset industry has since matured significantly since the almost four-year ban.

“In drafting this legislation, we had to address the inherent concerns with cryptocurrency and the opportunity it presents for illegal contributions,” FPPC’s general counsel David Bainbridge said in a live-streamed commission meeting on Thursday.

Political donations made using crypto must be conducted via a US-based crypto payments processor or “other service” with strict know-your-customer measures and answerable to subpoena requests for records.

Anonymous donations in crypto to political committees will be barred and those individuals contributing will be subject to identification constraints including the collection of names, addresses, occupations, and employers of each contributor at the time the donation is made.

“The campaign committee is responsible for all reporting,” an FPPC spokesperson told Blockworks in an email when asked if politicians and political candidates would need to obtain the identification of the donor. “It would still be required to have the name of the donor who contributed in crypto.”


Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening. Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter now.


Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, can’t-miss tweets and more from Blockworks Research’s Daily Debrief.


Can’t wait? Get our news the fastest way possible. Join us on Telegram and follow us on Google News.


Tags

upcoming event

MON - WED, MARCH 18 - 20, 2024

Digital Asset Summit (DAS) is returning March 2024. This year’s event will be held in our nation’s capital, where industry leaders, policymakers, and institutional experts will come together to discuss the latest developments and challenges in the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrency. […]

upcoming event

MON - WED, SEPT. 11 - 13, 2023

2022 was a meme.Skeptics danced, believers believed.Eventually, newcomers turned away, drained of liquidity and hope.Now, the tide is shifting and it’s time to rebuild. Permissionless II is the brainchild of Blockworks and Bankless. It’s not just a conference, but a call […]

recent research

Cosmos Hub: ATOM Economic Zone

Research

Replicated Security, the Hub’s Validation-as-a-Service offering that went live in March, is the first step in bringing value accrual to ATOM stakers.

/

article-image

OP holders might not be feeling very optimistic with the rollup’s token unlock schedule now in effect

article-image

Two lords are pushing for the government to ensure that the Bank of England could not implement “Britcoin” without legislative backing

article-image

This is the second fee switch proposal that failed to pass a community vote

article-image

This partnership comes as Nike released its first NFT collection, Our Force 1, this month

article-image

The weaknesses of large language models like ChatGPT are “too great to use reliably for security,” OpenZeppelin’s machine learning lead says

article-image

Giddy will now enable users to spend their yield on real-world goods and services