Louisiana Bill Seeks to Lay Rules for Cryptocurrency Political Donations Louisiana Bill Seeks to Lay Rules for Political Donations in Crypto 

The Louisiana state legislature is considering a bill to make crypto contributions to political campaigns easier. Sponsored by Republican Party Representative Mark Wright, the bill seeks to establish a legal framework for making cryptocurrency donations to political parties and political leaders.

Crypto contribution for political campaigns

House Bill No. 170 intends to "allow a candidate to receive campaign contributions in the form of cryptocurrency" by amending and enacting existing laws. He wants the house to establish the procedure for contributions, use, reporting and other related matters to accept such donations.

The proposed bill establishes the definition of cryptocurrency. It says that said asset “means 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 currency units, to verify fund transfers, and to prevent the forgery.”

While the bill wants to allow candidates, civil servants, and political committees to accept contributions in cryptocurrency, it will require their conversion into fiat money for expenses.

“A candidate, office holder, or political committee must sell cryptocurrency and deposit the proceeds of the sale into an account before spending a cryptocurrency contribution,” the bill says. Instead of money, the bill seeks to consider them contributions “in kind”.

Bill seeks record keeping

The bill seeks clarity regarding contributions, valuations and expenses, making the recipients responsible for ensuring the legality of the donation. To this end, the beneficiary must maintain the necessary records of the contributor's full name, physical address, current employer, and a statement that the contributor is the owner of the donated digital asset.

“The valuation of in-kind contributions or expenses will be their estimated fair market value at the time they are received and spent. Valuation of cryptocurrency contributions will be the fair market value of the cryptocurrency at the time the contribution is received,” the proposed bill says.

Legislature Praises BTC, Satoshi

In April of last year, the Louisiana legislature passed a resolution that praised bitcoin and its creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, for their "contribution to economic security."

Noting that bitcoin “became the first trillion-dollar decentralized asset,” the House Resolution introduced by Rep. Wright invited “state and local governments to consider ways that could help them benefit from the increased use of bitcoin.” this new technology.

While many state legislatures have individual politicians showing strong interest in bitcoin adoption in recent years, US regulators are increasingly calling for more regulation of the asset class.

In one such event last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reminded Congress of the need to regulation for the crypto industry.

When asked if Russia could circumvent international sanctions by using digital assets, Powell said he "underscored the need for congressional action on digital finance, including cryptocurrency." He was testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on the state of the economy.

Featured image courtesy of Education NC