--- title: Bitcoin Fair Game for PACs, Federal Election Commission Says description: The Federal Elections Commission unanimously agreed that political committees could legally accept bitcoin donations under $100. canonical: https://time.com/92646/bitcoin-campaigns-elections/ author: Noah Rayman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-08T17:38:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:41.035Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bitcoin Fair Game for PACs, Federal Election Commission Says og:description: The Federal Elections Commission unanimously agreed that political committees could legally accept bitcoin donations under $100. og:url: https://time.com/92646/bitcoin-campaigns-elections/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bitcoin Fair Game for PACs, Federal Election Commission Says twitter:description: The Federal Elections Commission unanimously agreed that political committees could legally accept bitcoin donations under $100. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # PACs Can Take Bitcoin, Regulator Says > Sponsored content. 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In the Loop is TIME's AI newsletter, built on original reporting and access to the people building and governing AI. It publishes Tuesdays and Fridays and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes TIME's In the Loop? Harry Booth, a tech reporter at TIME, writes In the Loop. #### Is In the Loop free? Yes. In the Loop is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: TIME Explains: What is Bitcoin? [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Explains: What is Bitcoin?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/baM6a66m.m3u8) (2:45)  _Published 2013-11-04. Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer “cryptocurrency” that can be used to purchase everything from Domino’s pizza to drugs on the deep web. Here's what you need to know._  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman May 8, 2014 5:38 PM UTC  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman May 8, 2014 5:38 PM UTC Political candidates and committees [can accept contributions](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/fec-oks-bitcoin-campaign-donations-106492.html?hp=l6) in the form of bitcoin, [a regulator said Thursday](http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2014/documents/mtgdoc%5F14-24-b.pdf), the first time the digital currency has been formally blessed for political spending. The Federal Election Commission unanimously agreed that political committees can legally accept bitcoin donations under $100, acknowledging that the digital currency counted as a broadly defined “contribution.” Responding to an inquiry from the Make Your Laws PAC, the commission said political committees could accept a limited bitcoin donation as long as it could identify the donor. In the opinion, which amounts to a guideline but not a law, the FEC also said political action committees could invest in bitcoin as they might stocks. But the FEC stopped short of allowing PACs to spend bitcoin, requiring instead that PACs convert them into dollars first first. The FEC is notorious for its gridlock and lax enforcement of existing campaign finance regulations, and its decision doesn’t necessarily mean political committees won’t test and stretch the limits by using bitcoin for more political spending. Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, a Democratic appointee, [told the Washington _Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/05/08/federal-election-commission-approves-bitcoin-donations-to-political-committees/) that the $100 limit—a figured proposed in the Make Your Laws inquiry—facilitated the decision. “The $100 limit was really important to us,” said said. “We have to balance a desire to accommodate innovation, which is a good thing, with a concern that we continue to protect transparency in the system and ensure that foreign money doesn’t seep in.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/92646/bitcoin-campaigns-elections/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/92646/bitcoin-campaigns-elections/"},"headline":"PACs Can Take Bitcoin, Regulator Says","datePublished":"2014-05-08T17:38:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:05:41.035Z","description":"Regulators said political action committees can accept small amounts of donations in bitcoin, a digital currency that's increasingly popular despite turbulent valuation fluctuations. 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