California Is Open to Allowing Crypto Political Donations

Candidates for public office in California may soon be able to accept cryptocurrencies as donations.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission met on Thursday to discuss a number of election issues facing the Golden State, including whether candidates for public office can accept cryptocurrencies as part of campaign donations.

Ultimately, the commissioners didn't make a decision to adopt any of the proposed amendments during the hearing, acknowledging that they don't understand the issue fully.

Back in 2014, the Federal Election Commission ruled that federal election law allows for candidates to accept cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as an in-kind donation.

A public comment from Nicolas Heidorn - policy and legal director of the nonpartisan political advocacy organization California Common Cause - suggested allowing cryptocurrency donations until the commission has further studied the matter.

In the end, the commissioners disagreed with the idea.

In particular, pushed back against the idea of banning cryptocurrencies as donations outright, saying that she would like to gather more information before making a decision.

Commissioners Brian Hatch and Frank Cardenas both said they disagreed with the concept of an outright ban, but in the case of Hatch, the issue of fraud remains a paramount one.

The commission would then be able to continue studying the matter in 2019, when there wouldn't be an immediate election to consider.

The commission will meet again next month to discuss the issue.