- US citizens can give up to $6,600 and receive NFT as a reward.
- Kansas lawmakers proposed a $100 crypto political donation ceiling in February.
For the impending 2024 presidential elections, Vivek Ramaswamy is now the second contender in the country to formally accept Bitcoin contributions.
Second Presidential Candidate to Accept Bitcoin Donation
Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican running for president is placing a significant wager on the digital currency Bitcoin for campaign contributions. He is also announcing a new plan to relax tax limits on Bitcoin mining in the United States.
Ramaswamy stated, “Give $1,” while announcing that he was taking Bitcoin donations. Just two days prior to this, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had become the first presidential contender in American history to accept Bitcoin as campaign contributions. Ramaswamy suggested, “Let’s make the 2024 election a referendum on fiat currency.”
According to Ramaswamy, “The thriving Bitcoin ecosystem should actually better empower me to do what I would like to accomplish as the U.S. president, which is to stabilize the U.S. dollar as a unit of measurement.”Ramaswamy also intends to intorduce his new Bitcoin policy at the annual Bitcoin 2023 confrence in Miami this saturday.
The businessman will not be the first presidential contender to accept donations in digital money. Sen. Rand Paul, who accepted Bitcoin donations for his 2016 presidential campaign, has that distinction.
Donations in cryptocurrencies are not accepted from former president Donald Trump, Senator Tim Scott, or vice president Joe Biden. Trump did, however, issued non-fungible tokens last autumn and reportedly personally made up to $1 million from selling the special digital assets. Trump is now dominating in Republican primary surveys.
Vivek Ramaswamy on Bitcoin Donations
On stage, Ramaswamy flashed a QR code that, when scanned, directed viewers to a payment gateway with a variety of contribution choices, including BTC and Satoshi (sats), the smallest unit of currency in the Bitcoin system.
Ramaswamy chose BitPay’s payment solution to accept donations made in bitcoin. However, BitPay also accepts other cryptocurrencies including Shiba Inu, ApeCoin, LiteCoin, DogeCoin, Ether, Bitcoin, and Ether.
The campaign will accept donations of up to $6,600 from eligible citizens and permanent residents, but these contributions will not qualify as charitable deductions for federal income tax reasons. A nonfungible token (NFT) will be given to donors as stated on the contribution page “After donating, come back to claim your NFT.”
Legislators in the Kansas House of Representatives filed a measure in February that would set a ceiling on cryptocurrency political donations at $100.
Donations under $100 would require the recipient to “immediately convert” the cryptocurrency to dollars.This will refrain them from using the cryptocurrency for purchases or from HODL the funds.
Ramaswamy’s Plan of Action
Ramaswamy doesn’t intend to launch his own NFTs in order to advance his campaign or his own interests.The ability to mine Bitcoin in the United States would be a fundamental component of Ramaswamy’s plan.
The procedure of recovering the digital money is expensive and time-consuming. After Beijing forced out enterprises mining the digital currency in 2021 to reduce energy usage, the U.S. recently surpassed China as the top site for harvesting the cryptocurrency.In its budget for the fiscal year 2024, the Biden administration has suggested a 30% tax on the power consumed by bitcoin mining businesses.
Ramaswamy’s plan would also formalize the fact that Bitcoin and other coins of a similar nature would not be considered as securities. But he suggested enabling them to function as “parallel currencies,”. Although the price of Bitcoin has increased dramatically over the past ten years, it is still quite volatile owing to governmental regulation and unpredictability in the cryptocurrency markets.
Accepting Bitcoin donations is a risky step made by Ramaswamywhich reflects a shift in the political climate. It would be fascinating to observe how other contenders react to this development and whether it has any impact on the election results in 2024.