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Two pro-cryptocurrency candidates have won seats to become governors of the U.S. states of California and Colorado in the countryâs midterm elections.
Two pro-cryptocurrency candidates have won seats to become governors of the U.S. states of California and Colorado in the countryâs midterm gubernatorial elections, fintech news outlet TrustNodes reports Nov. 7.
In the California race, Democrat contender Gavin Newsom sealed 59 percent of the electorateâs support to defeat the Republican Partyâs John Cox. According to local newspaper The Sacramento Bee, Newsom brought crypto onto the party political scene as early as 2014, when he became one of the first high-profile politicians to accept campaign donations in Bitcoin (BTC).
The newly-elected California governor notably counts crypto entrepreneurs the Winklevoss twins as donors, who reportedly laid down a collective total of $116,800 in 2017 for his campaign. While the twins reportedly donated to Newsomâs campaign in fiat currency, the governor also maintained a BitPay page where supporters could make their donations in Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
In Colorado, another Democrat, Jared Polis, outsripped Republican competitor Walker Stapleton, with the former sealing 51.6 percent of the vote against the latterâs 45 percent. Polisâ Bitpay campaign donation page similarly accepted Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. His campaign website for the midterm elections contained an entire page devoted to his Blockchain Policy, outlining five area in which he intends to explore the technology .
These include voter protection and bolstering cybersecurity infrastructure, blockchain-based solutions to improve Coloradoâs energy grid, and using public ledgers so that there is more transparency in regard to state contracts, expenditure, and other government bureaucracy.
Polis further indicated his intent to establish regulatory sandboxes in order to encourage blockchain firms to âflock to the state,â stating that their work can create âgovernment applications that save taxpayers money and create value for Colorado residents.â
To this end, Polis pledged âto create a statewide safe harbor designed to exempt cryptocurrencies from state money transmissions laws.â He further stated plans to work to âestablish legislation that protects âopen blockchain tokensâ or cryptocurrencies that are exchangeable for goods and services,â from cumbersome licensing requirements that apply under extant securities and currency laws.
As previously reported, Polisâ blockchain policy draws on a precedent from the U.S. state of Wyoming, which this March which created a new class of assets by defining cryptocurrencies as âUtility Tokens.â
That same month, the Wyoming state legislature passed a House Bill that effectively exempts crypto from state securities regulations, signed into law by Governor Matt Mead. While the nationwide impact remains to be seen, both Wyomingâs and Polisâ pledge as governor indicate an avenue for utility tokens to be defined differently as either securities or commodities.
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