South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham plans to hold a hearing on Tuesday on the potential impact of "virtual shell companies" and cryptocurrencies on US elections and discuss whether cryptocurrency threatens democratic elections.
The hearing, titled “Protecting Our Elections: Considering Shell Companies and Virtual Currencies as an Opportunity for Foreign Interference,” will focus on the rules for donating to campaigns using cryptocurrency.
The Federal Election Commission considers digital currency contributions to be an “in-kind” donation, similar to contributions from bonds or stocks. The amount of such charitable contributions is limited. Four years ago, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) allowed the acceptance of non-repayable contributions to the election campaign in the VTS. The US Senate, in light of recent political events, is concerned about the possibility of outside influence on the pre-election democratic processes. The Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism plans to evaluate the role of cryptocurrencies and their anonymous transactions in the election process during the hearing. It is expected that during the hearings, new rules for donations will be developed, replacing old restrictions that are outdated and ineffective.
Thus, Austin Petersen, a Republican, during his election campaign in November received a bitcoin donation in the amount of $130,276 (~20 BTC) but was forced to return it because Federal Election Commission (FEC) rules limit individual contributions to more than $5,400 per year.
This is not the first attempt by regulatory authorities to regulate the relationship between cryptocurrency and the public sector through legislation; The US Office of Government Ethics (OGE) has ordered all government employees to disclose financial information about cryptocurrency holdings.
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