Republican House campaign arm says it will begin soliciting cryptocurrency donations

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) will begin soliciting cryptocurrency donations, it announced on Thursday, making it the first national party committee to do so.

“The NRCC is proud to lead the charge in accepting cryptocurrency campaign contributions,” Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the group’s chair, said in a statement. 

“We are focused on pursuing every avenue possible to further our mission of stopping [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi’s socialist agenda and retaking the House majority, and this innovative technology will help provide Republicans the resources we need to succeed.” 

The NRCC said it will process cryptocurrency contributions using the payment service BitPay. Those donations will then be converted into U.S. dollars before actually being transferred into the group’s bank account. 

That process will allow the group to effectively bypass the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) $100 cap on transfers of cryptocurrency and accept donations of up to $10,000 per year from an individual. 

While the NRCC is the first national party committee to begin soliciting contributions in cryptocurrency, some other campaigns and political committees have already been doing so. 

Emmer’s House campaign committee, for example, accepted cryptocurrency donations last year, as did the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign of former tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang. 

The proliferation of cryptocurrencies in recent years has emerged as a particular challenge for the FEC. Cryptocurrencies promise users more privacy — as well as freedom from central banks — that the FEC worries will conflict with the transparency and disclosure laws surrounding campaign finance.