Key takeaways:
- The Kansas state legislature has postponed consideration of a bill that would have restricted and outlawed cryptocurrency contributions to political elections until January 2024.
- The bill was removed from the schedule for failing to adhere to the state’s Rule 1507.
The Kansas state legislature has postponed consideration of a bill that would have restricted and outlawed cryptocurrency contributions to political elections until January 2024.
On January 25, 2023, Kansas House of Representatives legislators introduced bill HB 2167. The law attempted to impose a $100 cap on all political contributions during the state’s primary or general election.
Additionally, the bill mandated that politicians “immediately convert” cryptocurrency donations into dollars, with no restrictions on using or hoarding the funds.
The House Committee on Elections received the measure shortly after it was introduced, and on February 22, 2023, it released a report “recommending bill be passed,” along with several revisions.
Nevertheless, the bill was removed from the schedule for failing to adhere to the state’s Rule 1507, “Disposition of Bills Subject to Certain Deadlines,” which places severe deadlines on some laws. The bill, HB 2167, had the following title:
“Amending the Campaign Finance Act to regulate and limit the use of cryptocurrency and to prohibit the use of any political funds collected by a candidate or candidate committee for a candidate for federal office.”
The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission stated in 2017 that cryptocurrency contributions were “too secretive,” specifically referring to Bitcoin political donations. Authorities in California likewise outlawed crypto-based political donations in 2018, but they later changed their minds in July 2022.
The Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act, introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren, has garnered the support of nine US Senators.
Democratic Party Senators Gary Peters, Dick Durbin, Tina Smith, Jeanne Shaheen, Bob Casey, Richard Blumenthal, Michael Bennet, and Catherine Cortez Masto, as well as independent Senator Angus King, were listed on Senator Warren’s official Senate website as joining the bipartisan coalition supporting the bill. As she welcomed the new bill’s backers, Warren added:
“Our expanding coalition shows that Congress is ready to take action – our bipartisan bill is the toughest proposal on the table cracking down on crypto’s illicit use and giving regulators more tools in their toolbox,”
Gary Gensler recently announced that he would advise Congress of this on September 12 and is adamant that his group should be in charge of crypto. Gensler persisted in his recurrent theme by asserting that almost all cryptocurrency assets satisfy the Howey test.
