Uncharted Territory
If nothing else, Stockman’s announcement could produce two politically consequential results. The first: free media attention for the congressman. Now that the media are covering his bitcoin announcement, he’s building up name recognition — which is one of his biggest obstacles in the upcoming election.
The second: If someone challenged Stockman over the legality of accepting bitcoin donations, that could force a court to make a decision about it, says Richard Hasen, election law expert at the University of California, Irvine.
So far, there’s been little guidance from any regulatory body. In November, the Conservative Action Fund, a Republican PAC, requested a decision from the Federal Election Commission on whether the currency could be accepted in campaigns. What ensued was a discussion of transparency, as NPR’s Peter Overby reported:
“PACs and candidates have to publicly identify their donors. There are contribution limits to comply with, and basically no money is permitted from foreign sources. But bitcoins are like cash, with no record of who owns them — making illegal or shadow contributions easier.
“Republican commissioner Matthew Petersen read from a letter submitted by lawyers for the Bitcoin Foundation. The letter says the bitcoin system is transparent, as Petersen read: ‘This transparency is one of the features of the bitcoin network that makes it ideally suited for political contributions.’ “