The National Republican Congressional Committee will become the first national party group to accept donations in cryptocurrency, Axios reported.
Cryptocurrency, using a technology called blockchain, is a form of payment that can be exchanged online for goods and services.
"We are focused on pursuing every avenue possible to further our mission of stopping [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi’s socialist agenda and retaking the House majority, and this innovative technology will help provide Republicans the resources we need to succeed," NRCC Chairman Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said in a statement.
The newfound currency could test campaign finance rules, according to Axios.
Crypto donations, such as those in Bitcoin, will be converted immediately into dollars via the payment processor BitPay before landing in the NRCC's account, Axios reported.
Thus, the Republican committee never actually will hold cryptocurrencies, and therefore can accept individual donations of up to $10,000 per year. Actual crypto donations are limited to $100.
Emmer, co-chair of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus and a member of the House Financial Services Committee, recently pressed the IRS to ease regulations on cryptocurrency donations to charitable groups.
Axios said that while the NRCC is the first party committee to accept crypto donations, a handful of federal political candidates have done so.
Federal transparency and disclosure rules, combined with the anonymity that cryptocurrencies are designed to provide, have created concerns of the Federal Election Commission.
Axios reported the NRCC said it will diligently gather identifying information from all individuals who donate using cryptocurrency.
The Federal Reserve recently said it was exploring the creation of a digital U.S. dollar, which could shake up the banking system while giving low-income earners access to a financial system they might not have otherwise had.
Chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed has been "carefully monitoring and adapting" to those innovations.
"The effective functioning of our economy requires that people have faith and confidence not only in the dollar, but also in the payment networks, banks, and other payment service providers that allow money to flow on a daily basis," Powell said in a video message.
"Our focus is on ensuring a safe and efficient payment system that provides broad benefits to American households and businesses while also embracing innovation."
Bitcoin, which launched in 2009, is the original and the world's most popular crypto. It doubled in value over four months to more than $64,000 in April, before pulling back to about $39,000 currently, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
CNBC reported that almost half of millennial millionaires had at least 25% of their wealth in cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin and other digital currencies have helped the younger generation reach millionaire status, as 47% of millennial millionaires had at least 25% of their wealth in crypto, and more than one-third had at least half their wealth in it, according to a survey of 750 millionaire investors.
Cryptocurrency was in the news recently when Colonial Pipeline used it to pay a ransom to hackers who accessed their computer systems. The FBI managed to track most of the cryptocurrency used and recovered most of the money.
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