Minnesota has become one of the few U.S. states to permit crypto donations to political campaign committees. However, according to the state’s new rules, crypto donations must be converted to U.S. dollars within five days. In the event of price changes within the five-day grace period, these must be shown separately in campaign finance reports.
Converting Crypto Donations to Dollars
The U.S. state of Minnesota has become one of the first states in the country to okay crypto donations to political campaign committees. Under the state’s new rules, which took effect in July 2023, recipients of crypto donations are nevertheless required to convert these to U.S. dollars within five days.
According to a report by Axios, the crypto contributions must be valued at the digital assets’ respective prices when the donations were made. In the event of the prices changing within the five-day grace period, such changes must be shown separately in campaign finance reports.
Minnesota’s decision to allow crypto contributions was made after the state’s Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board received inquiries from campaign teams which wanted to know the procedures for accepting crypto donations. According to Jeff Sigurdson, the CEO of the state’s political finance and disclosure body, these inquiries in turn prompted it to ask legislators to look into this.
Although the state has okayed crypto contributions, prospective recipients of such donations are still wary of digital assets’ volatility. The identity of crypto donors is also another key concern for the campaign committees.
Politicians Not in a Hurry to Receive Crypto Donations
Meanwhile, U.S. congressman Ken Martin is quoted in the report stating that he is not seeking to actively raise crypto donations.
“There’s so much that you have to do to verify cryptocurrency and … accept it that it’s somewhat of an administrative nightmare,” Martin said.
Minnesota Republican David Han claimed that politicians from the state will accept any “lawful contribution to help our cause.” He however claimed that politicians in the state are currently not focused much on raising funds via crypto donations.
As per the report, the new rules are expected to give the green light for collecting political donations via Venmo and other mobile payment apps.
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