Colorado Proposes Allowing Crypto Sponsorship for Election Campaigns

Colorado officials have proposed rules allowing political candidates to accept bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrencies as campaign donations. A draft of the proposed rules relating to “political campaigns and finance” has been released by the Colorado Secretary of State's Office for public comment until May 23.

After reviewing comments, Secretary of State Wayne Williams will issue formal notice of the new regulation.

New Rule 10.7 on Campaign Donations states: “The Committee may accept contributions in cryptocurrency, up to the allowable limits for cash or coin contributions. The contribution amount is the value of the cryptocurrency at the time of transfer of funds. The committee must report any gain or loss after accepting the funds as income or other receipts."

Cryptocurrency has played a significant role in the financing of political campaigns in the United States after the Federal Election Commission allowed citizens to donate cryptocurrency to election campaigns in 2014.

Liberal Party presidential candidate Austin Petersen announced in mid-February that he had received a total of 24 cryptocurrency contributions to his account. $9,700, the largest of which was 0.244 bitcoin, or $4,500.

Democratic Party member Jared Polis in 2014 and Republican Senator Rand Paul accepted donations in bitcoin during the 2016 presidential campaign. New Hampshire was the first US state to allow candidates to accept cryptocurrency donations in 2014.

Meanwhile, US House of Representatives member Jared Polis received about $2,000 in bitcoin for his 2014 campaign. He is currently a candidate for governor and is believed to be the first member of Congress to accept bitcoin.

According to http://www.rttnews.com