With the ongoing rivalry between governments and the crypto world, should crypto coins be accepted for campaign-related activities? From the look of things, I guess the answer is yes. A number of ambitious public officials have used virtual currencies in campaign-related activities such as campaign donations and as incentives.
A campaign for one of the candidates running for Congress in Florida recently wrote to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), requesting permission to use Ethereum-based tokens as an incentive for campaign volunteers and supporters. The campaign for Omar Reyes team sent out the letter in late May and it seems the FEC is ready to give the long-awaited green light.
Although the FEC is yet to seat for an official decision, a draft advisory opinion released on July 5 suggests that the FEC is poised to give its blessings to the experiment.
According to the letter sent to the FEC, the Omar Reyes campaign tagged ‘Omar2020’ aims to use the token as an incentive to distribute to potential volunteers and voters who are interested in taking part in the crypto experiment. The incentive will also be extended to those who sign up for a mailing list and those who host official campaign events.
Contrary to the general idea of tokens and cryptocurrencies, the Omar2020 campaign token won’t hold any monetary value. Yes, you can’t cash it out or use it for any purchase both online and offline. However, the letter explained that the token is more or less a digital scoreboard. The person with the highest number of tokens on the scoreboard will be given the opportunity to choose one of three gifts as appreciation.
Evaluating the aim of the token, the FEC has supposedly come to a conclusion that the token can be likened to campaign souvenirs such as yard signs, or bumper stickers since they hold no monetary value. Therefore, the FEC see no reason to reject the request.
The draft reads:
“The Commission concludes that the Committee may distribute OMR Tokens to volunteers and supporters as an incentive to engage in volunteer activities as described in the request because OMR Tokens do not constitute compensation; rather, OMR Tokens are materially indistinguishable from traditional forms of campaign souvenirs and nothing in the Act or Commission regulations prohibits a campaign committee from distributing free campaign souvenirs to volunteers or supporters.”
Despite Skepticism, More People Keep Flocking to Crypto
The question of where cryptocurrency really falls under has been plaguing governments, regulatory agencies, and financial bodies. Due to its ability to skirt several borderlines and a number of drawbacks, the crypto sphere has been treated with a lot of skepticism since its invention a decade ago.
Despite the fear and concerns this form of digital currency raise, legions of users still flock into the crypto sphere. It is a no-brainer to see that some aspiring public office holders are a part of this number as well.
