Another US Presidential Candidate to Accept Bitcoin for Donations
- The United States presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, stated that he would accept Bitcoin as a donation for his campaign.
- “Let’s make the 2024 election a referendum on fiat currency,” said Ramaswamy, who became the second candidate to do so.
- The nephew of former US President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also recently made a similar announcement.
- He opted for BitPay as the gateway for crypto donors and displayed a QR code that would take donors to the payment page.
The United States has been one of the leading hubs of blockchain and crypto adoption despite the Biden administration’s efforts to stop the growth rate of digital assets and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s attempts to prevent investors from participating in the market. Interestingly, a second US presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, who is also the founder of biopharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences, announced that he would accept Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, for campaign donations, capitalizing on the sentiments of BTC traders and investors.
While announcing the fact that he will be accepting Bitcoin (BTC) for donations, Ramaswamy asked people to “give $1” while stating:
“Let’s make the 2024 election a referendum on fiat currency.”
More importantly, this announcement comes just two days after pro-crypto Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed that he would be accepting donations in BTC, as per earlier reports. The nephew of former US President John F. Kennedy, broke the news at the Bitcoin 2023 conference and noted that the payments will be accepted via the Lightning Network, which would enable fast settlements at very low costs.
“None of these lawful and peaceful protestors had violated any law… But suddenly, they found that they could not access their money, their bank accounts to pay their mortgages or feed their families. When I witnessed this … devastating use of government repression, I realized for the first time how free money is as important as free expression,” said Kennedy Jr.
On the other hand, Ramaswamy displayed a QR code to the public during the conference, which, when scanned, would lead the people to a payment gateway, allowing donors a wide range of options along with BTC and satoshis, the smallest possible division of a Bitcoin.
It is also important to note that the presidential candidate opted for BitPay, a Bitcoin payment service provider headquartered in Atlanta, United States, to facilitate the smooth transactions from donors. However, the crypto app also supports other crypto coins like Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), ApeCoin (APE), and many more.
Another important cryptocurrency supported by BitPay is Litecoin (LTC), which is currently the second-most used digital asset on the platform. The integration of this coin can definitely open up new opportunities and possibilities in the near future for LTC-pro candidacies.
It is crucial to note that eligible US citizens and permanent residents can donate a total of up to $6,600. However, this money is not considered for charitable purposes in the calculation of the income tax. For those who donate their money, they will be gifted a non-fungible token (NFT), with the donation page stating, “After donating, come back to claim your NFT.”
Crypto players have also played an important role in political donations in the past few years, with the founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, donating at least $39.2 million to Democrats in Congress prior to the midterms last year.
As per the Federal Election Commission records, Bankman-Fried donated $50,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in October 2020 and $2,800 to the Biden campaign in the same month and is said to indirectly supported Biden’s campaign in the 2020 election with $10 million.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
