The state of Louisiana is about to discuss a Bill, introduced on Feb 25th, which intends to bring political donations to the realm of crypto. House Bill No.170, proposed by Mark Wright, proposes to allow a candidate to receive campaign contributions in the form of cryptocurrency.
In Brief:
- Louisiana debates bill to identify crypto donations as “in-kind” donations.
- The expenditure of donation is only allowed after converting the cryptocurrency into fiat currency.
The bill defines cryptocurrency as “a digital or virtual currency that is not issued by any central authority, is designed to function as a medium of exchange, and uses encryption technology to regulate the generation of units of currency, to verify fund transfers, and to prevent counterfeiting.”
The bill wants to let candidates, officeholders, or political committees accept political donations in the form of cryptocurrency, however, its expenditure is only allowed by converting the cryptocurrency into fiat currency.
The Bill states that crypto donations be considered “in-kind” donations and that its valuation “be the fair market value thereof at the time the contribution is received”.
For the purpose of accountability, the Bill says that the receiver of the donations has the obligation to verify the legality of the contributions. Also for the contribution to be considered legal and eligible, the receiver must obtain and maintain a record of the following information:
- The contributor’s full name.
- The contributor’s physical address.
- The contributor’s current employer.
- An affirmation that the contributor is in-fact the owner of the crypto currency being donated.
The Bill, to summarise, wants to amend and reenact the existing laws to allow and define contribution, use and reporting of cryptocurrency for the purpose of campaign contributions.
Louisiana, follows the footsteps of The Texas Ethics Committee who proposed a similar notion of cryptocurrency being used for political contributions.
