Still, Stockman appeared in a Dec. 31 YouTube video expressing support for the virtual currency: “I really think digital money is more about freedom,” he said, adding that bitcoin is “a fixed amount of currency at a fixed rate, so very good for the markets.” According to Business Insider, he said his Senate campaign would show support by accepting bitcoin donations.
Setting aside the question of Stockman’s longshot candidacy, his announcement raised a question that has rarely been asked before: In political campaigns, what are bitcoins worth?
Symbolic Value
It’s a hard question to answer, and it probably depends on whom you ask.
Created in 2009, the virtual private currency (also called crypto-currency) has a small, ardent and growing following. It gained significant media attention especially this past year as its progress hit noteworthy highs and lows: The exchange rate of bitcoin surged in value in April 2013, turning some early investors into poster children for the currency’s success, but then it dramatically plummeted in December. Dating site OKCupid and game developer Zynga began accepting bitcoin, but it was also used in an alleged Ponzi scheme uncovered in July and on the black-market site Silk Road, which the FBI busted in October.