South Korean Lawmaker Joins Growing List of Politicians to Take Crypto Donations

Politics and Bitcoin (BTC) have had a blossoming relationship in recent years. While regulators and the IMF call for a global regulatory framework for cryptos, a number of politicians in the U.S have embraced cryptos.

U.S Politics and Cryptos

Late last year, news hit the wires of New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirming that he will take his first 3 paychecks in Bitcoin. Mayor Adams is not the first to take a Bitcoin salary. Miami City mayor Suarez was in the news last year, announcing that he would be taking a Bitcoin salary. Since then, mayor Suarez also announced plans to pay Bitcoin dividends to any local residents who create a digital wallet.

With mayors taking Bitcoin salaries, a number of U.S politicians have also accepted cryptos for campaign donations. In fact, U.S politicians have been accepting crypto donations for a number of years. In 2014, the Federal Election Commission made it legal for campaigns to accept Bitcoin as political donations. Since then, so-called fringe supporters of cryptos have made the news headlines for accepting crypto donations.

In more recent times, however, crypto campaign contributions have gotten more mainstream. According to Vault12, HOLDpac and Crypto for Congress are two initiatives set up to increase the use of digital assets among Congressional candidates, elected leaders, and engaged citizens. Both of these initiatives reportedly started back in 2020.

While these initiatives will be seen as a positive for crypto supporters, much will depend on U.S lawmakers’ regulatory goals near term. We reported today of a U.S Congress subcommittee hearing on cryptos this Thursday. A key area of focus will likely be environmental. For politicians to take Bitcoin amidst rising concerns of the impact of cryptos and crypto mining on the environment could weigh on support. This could be even more disastrous should Congress ban Bitcoin mining outright.

Cryptos and Asia

In Asia, a number of large economies have embraced Bitcoin and cryptos in general. While regulatory oversight remains a key area of focus, crypto friendly countries in Asia include Japan and South Korea.

It’s therefore unsurprising that politicians in crypto friendly nations are also now accepting crypto campaign donations.

Today, news hit the wires of South Korean lawmaker Lee Kwang-jae announcing that he has begun accepting crypto political donations. Unlike his counterparts in the U.S, however, Lee Kwang-jae has taken it one step further. He will issue donation receipts in the form of NFTs. In addition to Bitcoin, donors are also reportedly able to make donations with Ethereum (ETH), Paycoin, and a number of other cryptos.

Politicians with forward thinking attitudes that include embracing cryptos are likely to have greater support from crypto advocates and millennials.