National Blockchain Committee

The Blockchain Committee is a committee created by the LNC to empower candidates and activists with the knowledge of blockchain to be better advocates for free markets in technology and money.

2018-2020 Committee Members

• Phil Anderson (Region 6)
• Martin Buchanan (Region 1)
• Matt Crum (Region 2)
• Joseph Duncan (Region 7) (Committee Secretary)
• Joseph Langenbrunner (Region 3)
• Steven Nekhaila
• Darryl Perry (Region 8)
• Kevin Shaw (Region 4)
• Preston Smith (Region 5) (Committee Chair)
• Elizabeth Van Horn
• Alex Merced (Committee Vice Chair)

State Knowledge Base

Find information state cryptocurrency donation rules, blockchain regulations and state based blockchain businesses.

• For 2018 crypto legislation as of July 2018, you can check out: http://www.ncsl.org/research/financial-services-and-commerce/cryptocurrency-2018-legislation/fbclid/iwar2zmfzaxftehw9gdkf44k1ootpa3qujeokrpwugvxdicaolad1ll0unok0.aspx
• Other good state-by-state overviews are at https://www.carltonfields.com/insights/publications/2018/state-regulations-on-virtual-currency-and-blockcha and https://coinatmradar.com/blog/the-fifty-u-s-states-and-cryptocurrency-regulations/
• If there is more recent information for your state, please share it here and on the open LP Blockchain Facebook group.

State	Candidate Campaign Donations?	Crypto legality
Alabama - AL
Alaska - AK
Arizona - AZ
Arkansas - AR
California - CA	No See: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/california-watchdog-bans-bitcoin-donations-093606846.html
Colorado - CO	Yes. "regulation holds donations made in digital money to the same limit as regular cash donations. The USD value of crypto received is to be determined by the market value at the time of contribution, and campaigns are obliged to report all subsequent gains and losses as well."
Connecticut - CT		Connecticut "enacted 2017 legislation forbidding third parties to sell virtual currency or store virtual currency for others without a license[...and] decreed that virtual currency licensees must pay a surety bond.
Delaware - DE		Good crypto laws signed by the governor July 2018. "all three laws provide clarity regarding the use of blockchains as legal instruments." Smart contracts left unaddressed.
District of Columbia - DC	Yes. "Title 3 (Elections and Ethics) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations[...]mentions ‘Bitcoin contributions’ and specifies the order in which they have to be liquidated and reported as in-kind. The text implies that the cap is no different for crypto donations than any other kind."
Florida - FL
Georgia - GA		Transmission of virtual currency within the state requires a license. GA Department of Banking and Finance is authorized to create future rules and regulations involving the transmission of virtual currency.
Hawaii - HI
Idaho - ID
Illinois - IL
Indiana - IN
Iowa - IA
Kansas - KS	"Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission opined that digital currency was ‘too secretive’ to be used in campaign finance. It is unclear, however, if the scope of the ruling encompasses cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin."
Kentucky - KY
Louisiana - LA		Poor crypto laws -- see the Randall Lord case.
Maine - ME
Maryland - MD
Massachusetts - MA	Yes. "‘contributions in Bitcoins’ are permitted and subject to the same limits and disclosure requirements as fiat contributions, with a five-day period for liquidation. It is not allowed to directly use crypto for campaign expenditures, since state law holds it that any campaign purchase exceeding $50 should by paid for with a check from an official committee account."
Michigan - MI	No See: https://www.ccn.com/no-coins-for-you-michigan-bans-crypto-donations-for-political-campaigns/
Minnesota - MN
Mississippi - MS
Missouri - MO
Montana - MT	Yes. "Receipt of crypto contributions is permitted, but expenditures can only be made out of a ‘primary campaign depository,’ hence there can be no such thing as the candidate’s official crypto wallet. [...] committees should liquidate the contribution within 24 hours from receipt."	"The state of Montana currently is one of the most friendly states because it does not have a money transmission law so virtual currency in general is not subject to any restrictions imposed by money transmission regulations." Mining moratorium avoided in 2018
Nebraska - NE
Nevada - NV
New Hampshire - NH	Not disallowed. "New Hampshire is also one of the states that has not passed clear rules about reporting cryptocurrency contributions. The result is a raft of libertarian-leaning early adopters operating in a regulatory vacuum that puts the onus on the candidate to disclose how much they have received and from whom."	No state license needed. "New Hampshire has amended its Money Transmitter statute (NH St. § 399-G:3) to exempt "persons who engage in the business of selling or issuing payment instruments or stored value solely in the form of convertible virtual currency or receive convertible virtual currency for transactions to another location" from the state's money transmission regulation. See H.B. 436, 2017 Leg.,165th Sess. (N.H. 2017). The law took effect on August 1, 2017." 2019 legislation: LSR# 2019-0753 -- allowing state agencies to accept cryptocurrencies as payment.
New Jersey - NJ
New Mexico - NM
New York - NY		A "BitLicense" from the New York State Department of Financial Services and a surety bond is required for businesses engaging in virtual currency activity, other than "merchants and consumers that utilize Virtual Currency solely for the purchase or sale of goods or services or for investment purposes" and "Persons that are chartered under the New York Banking Law and are approved by the superintendent to engage in Virtual Currency Business Activity" 2017-2018 bill S7724 sponsored by State Sen. Luis R. Sepúlveda(D) to create a digital currency task force did not get out of committee
North Carolina - NC	No See: https://dcebrief.com/nc-election-board-no-crypto-donations-for-state-candidates/
North Dakota - ND
Ohio - OH		First state to accept crypto payments for taxes.
Oklahoma - OK
Oregon - OR	Yes. Adopted in August 2018, "mirror the FEC’s approach of allowing contributions but not expenditures to be made in cryptocurrencies."
Pennsylvania - PA
Rhode Island - RI
South Carolina - SC	No.
South Dakota - SD
Tennessee - TN	Yes. "Tennessee law treats digital currency contributions the same as cash contributions, mandating that crypto is liquidated before it can be spent for campaign needs. The monetary value of crypto donations is determined by the market value at the time of receipt."
Texas - TX
Utah - UT
Vermont - VT
Virginia - VA
Washington - WA
West Virginia - WV
Wisconsin - WI	Undecided. "As of late September [2018[, the Wisconsin State Assembly hasn’t yet addressed the issue."
Wyoming - WY		Crypto-friendly. Exempts virtual currency money transmission laws and regulation within the state; also exempts it from state property tax "in addition to enacting 5 blockchain-friendly bills in 2018, 6 more bills have an elevated chance of becoming law bc they're now "committee bills"

Other Topics

Blockchain Voting
Cryptocurrency
Federal Blockchain Laws/Regulations