Rand Paul is making history. The Libertarian Republican candidate, who will be running in 2016, is accepting Bitcoin donations to fund his presidential campaign.
Although Paul, a US senator from Kentucky, is not the first United States politician to accept cryptocurrency, he is the first presidential candidate to open the door to Bitcoin.
The decision might seem groundbreaking, but it actually falls in line with Rand Paul’s opinion about how the government should approach money. According to the Kentucky senator, the American government should adopt a “hands off” approach to controlling the country’s money.
The candidate also plans to conquer the vote of young and tech-savvy American voters who are looking for a more liberal president.
Besides BTC, Paul’s campaign is also accepting donations via credit card and PayPal, according to his official website. The candidate has announced that his campaign is only accepting BTC donations up to $100, so all supporters who want to give more will have to use the other payment options available.
In order to accept cryptocurrency, the candidate’s campaign teamed up with the well-known payment processor BitPay. The platform will handle all crypto-donations and immediately convert the Bitcoins into fiat currency, making sure that Rand Paul’s campaign follows the rules dictated by the Federal Election Commission.
Rand Paul was not the first Presidential candidate to accept Bitcoin.
Darryl W Perry, Libertarian, started accepting Bitcoin in 2013 for his 2016 campaign.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/04/libertarian-presidential-hopeful-bitcoin-donations-fec/