Ohio Elections Commission set to offer guidance on use of Bitcoin, Venmo by state political candidates

COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the primary time, the Ohio Elections Fee is ready to supply official steerage to state political candidates on how they need to deal with Bitcoin and Venmo, two more and more widespread methods of transferring cash.

Candidates working for native or state places of work can settle for Bitcoin and different cryptocurrencies, however should assure that whoever gave it to them is eligible to make marketing campaign contributions in Ohio, in accordance with a draft authorized advisory set to be accredited by the elections fee on Thursday.

It additionally have to be reported as an in-kind contribution — a time period that applies to non-cash contributions like meals or companies — however topic to most contribution limits as if it had been a money contribution, the draft advisory says. The worth of the cryptocurrency, which may fluctuate wildly primarily based on market forces, could be calculated primarily based on how a lot it was price when the marketing campaign obtained it. Particular person donors in Ohio can gave a most of $13,704 yearly to a single statewide or state legislative candidate.

And in relation to Venmo or different related smartphone apps that can be utilized to immediately ship somebody cash, candidates can use them, however should arrange a separate account to maintain their private and marketing campaign funds separate. There are related guidelines for conventional financial institution accounts.

Phil Richter, the director of the Ohio Elections Fee, stated the advisories are being issued largely as a precaution, in response to remoted questions. Marketing campaign finance attorneys consulted by cleveland.com and The Plain Seller equally stated they weren’t conscious of the difficulty arising in Ohio incessantly.

“Venmo hasn’t actually come up, and Bitcoin hasn’t both, however the concern was that it might turn out to be extra of a difficulty, and one of the best strategy was to stake out a place now earlier than we acquired too far down the pike,” Richter stated.

The Ohio Elections Fee interprets state campaign-finance legislation, and in addition makes findings on potential violations, when needed, reporting them for prosecution.

The Federal Elections Fee, which interprets and enforces campaign-finance legal guidelines for federal candidates, first issued guidance regarding Bitcoin in 2014, on the time permitting candidates to simply accept as much as $100 within the digital foreign money from every donor. If the Bitcoin had been to go up in worth — $100 in Bitcoin obtained in 2014 could be price greater than $15,000 in the present day — the marketing campaign might settle for the revenue, reporting it like some other funding.

The FEC additionally issued steerage concerning the payment of political contributions by text message in 2012, requiring campaigns to trace contributions to report the identifies of donors of $200 or extra, so long as that particular person supplied their identify, tackle, occupation and the identify of their employer.