Trump campaign will now accept crypto contributions

In this election cycle, campaigns are looking to get your votes and your political contributions any way they can.

The Donald Trump campaign recently announced it will accept campaign contributions in cryptocurrencies, joining independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

The Federal Election Commission decided back in 2014 that candidates could legally accept crypto campaign contributions, but there are some things that make crypto a bit different from just giving a campaign cash.

“Cryptocurrency is extremely volatile and unpredictable. So you can bypass the contribution limit if the value goes fairly up,” said Ishan Mehta, director for the media and democracy program at Common Cause. “It becomes easy to do money laundering if you’re using, you know, some of the lesser known cryptocurrency or some of the fly-by-night cryptocurrencies.”

The FEC says that as long as the value of the crypto at the time it was donated falls below the contribution limits, it’s fine. But Mehta said that there are transparency issues, as well.

“Fundamentally by architecture and design, cryptocurrency’s untraceable, which makes it easier for foreign actors to influence campaigns by making these donations,” he said.

Because of these concerns, a few states ban cryptocurrencies in campaign finance altogether. But in the majority of states, it’s still kind of a gray area.

“The ability for governments to control it and to be sure that it’s comes from noncriminal entities — governments haven’t figured that out entirely yet,” said Heather Ba, who teaches at the University of Missouri’s Truman School of Government and Public Affairs.

There’s really no reason for candidates like Trump or RFK, Jr., not to accept contributions this way, she added.

“This is probably politically strategic for Trump,” Ba said. “You know, there’s a contingent of crypto enthusiasts who are attracted to the asset because of its libertarian values.”

Which means they may be more likely to donate to conservative causes, she added.

So, for people who want to use their Dogecoin for the Donald, they now can — of course within federal contribution limits.