California to Lift a Ban on Crypto Donations to Political Campaigns and State

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has recently announced that candidates for state and local offices in California will be able to raise capital in cryptocurrencies once more, following FPPC’s crypto ban back in 2018.

According to the official announcement, California’s legislators will now allow California residents to make donations of any amount in digital assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), with an exception to convert such donations into US dollars within two business days.

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The news arrives a few months after the state's FPPC discussed non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and hinted at the overturn of the four-year ban.

On top of that, the official report read that local campaigns must make sure that they possess sufficient Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and use payment processors that are only registered with the United States Department of Treasury. Likewise, for legal purposes, every donation must be marked with a name, address, occupation, and employer.

David Bainbridge, general counsel for the FPPC, commented on the approval and mentioned that California’s financing watchdog was always aware of the illegal contributions. He added:

"In drafting this legislation, we had to address the inherent concerns with cryptocurrency and the opportunity it presents for illegal contributions."

Thus, as dictated by the new rules, the Commission decided to lift the ban as there won’t be any anonymity left.

In fact, apart from California, there are also 12 other states that allow crypto-related donations, including Washington DC. ​​California’s new rules will take effect in 60 days.

Aaron S., Editor-In-Chief

Having completed a Master’s degree in Economics, Politics, and Cultures of the East Asia region, Aaron has written scientific papers analyzing the differences between Western and Collective forms of capitalism in the post-World War II era.
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