The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has been asked to issue an advisory opinion regarding whether bitcoins may be accepted as political contributions and, if so, whether they should be categorized as “monetary” or “in-kind” contributions under currently existing federal election law.
The FEC’s response will mark only the second instance of federal government agency comment on the nature and use of virtual currency, and while not binding, it might impact positions taken on virtual currency regulation by other government agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The FEC sought public comments on the request.
Read the full update written by our Decentralized Virtual Currencies group.