If your elected representative to the U.S. Congress has never heard of cryptocurrencies, how do you start telling him or her about it? Hoping to raise awareness, the blockchain advocacy group Chamber of Digital Commerce’s Political Action Committee (PAC) wants to start by contributing $50 worth of bitcoin to the campaign of those running for re-election.
Announced Monday, the advocacy group said under its new “Crypto for Congress” initiative members of the House of Representatives and the Senate running for re-election would receive campaign contributions in bitcoin.
According to the group’s founder, Perianne Boring, this is an attempt to raise awareness and give members of Congress a chance to interact with blockchain technology and digital assets. In addition to the contribution, the Chamber’s PAC will also provide online training and a toolkit to help the incumbents engage with cryptocurrencies.
- “One of the biggest challenges we've always had is people just really don't understand what the heck it is we're talking about,” said Boring.
- She added that letting Senate and House members interact with crypto assets through such an initiative could aid the group’s advocacy efforts for an industry that faces multiple public policy challenges such as taxation and regulatory jurisdiction.
- According to the group, once informed about the contribution, the incumbent’s campaign can either accept it, pass it on to a charity that accepts bitcoin (BTC) or just opt out.
- “Crypto for Congress brings an opportunity for our entire Congressional community to join this generational shift in finance and technology,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), in an emailed statement. Emmer is one of the most pro-crypto members of Congress.
- Boring added the bitcoin being given away as contributions has been mined by U.S.-based tech partners Core Scientific and Luxor. “We're getting clean bitcoin that was mined here,” she said.