Candidate to the Senate of the United States is forced to return donation of $ 130,000 in Bitcoin.

US Senate candidate Austin Petersen received a donation in bitcoins of $ 130,000 but was forced to return it due to federal regulations governing campaign contributions.

Petersen, a Republican who hopes to topple current Missouri President Claire McCaskill during the November legislative elections, said an enthusiastic supporter tried to donate $ 130,276 in bitcoins (~ 20 BTC) over the weekend, but his campaign had that to reject it since the regulations of the Federal Electoral Commission (FEC) restrict individual contributions to $ 5,400 per year.

The candidate, a dark horse in the Republican Party primaries who has nevertheless sound good against McCaskill, encouraged the enthusiastic supporter to create a political action committee (PAC), an organization that can use an unlimited amount of funds to promote candidates at all times. and when reporting to electoral regulators and not directly coordinating political campaigns.

As CCN reported, Petersen, a self-styled libertarian conservative, began accepting bitcoin donations last year through BitPay's crypto-donation platform. At that time, he told CCN that he believes the cryptocurrency "represents the future of American creativity and American freedom."

"The disruptive influence of Bitcoin is just what our financial system needs at this time. For too long, the federal government has had exclusive control over currency, hampering competition and growth by falsely limiting consumer choice, a fact that we would all know if the Federal Reserve was subject to the same type of audits as private companies. .

The cryptocurrency represents the future of American creativity and American freedom, and I am delighted to accept campaign donations in this way. "

In particular, this was not the first time that Petersen was forced to return a large donation of bitcoins. He told CCN that his campaign has been forced twice to refuse donations of approximately $ 250,000 for exceeding the FEC limit on individual campaign contributions.

In February, Petersen accepted the largest donation of bitcoin in the history of federal elections. The donation of 0.284 BTC was valued at $ 4,500 at the time, making it $ 900 below the individual limit.