Two pro-cryptocurrency candidates have won seats to become governors
of the U.S. states of California and Colorado in the country’s
midterm gubernatorial elections, fintech news outlet TrustNodes
reports Nov. 7.
In the California race, Democrat contender Gavin Newsom sealed 59
percent of the electorate’s support to defeat the Republican Party’s
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 Newsom’s 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 latter’s 45 percent. Polis’ 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 Colorado’s
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 “flock to the state,” stating
that their work can create “government applications that save
taxpayers money and create value for Colorado residents.”
To this end, Polis pledged “to create a statewide safe harbor
designed to exempt cryptocurrencies from state money transmissions
laws.” He further stated plans to work to “establish legislation that
protects ‘open blockchain tokens’ or cryptocurrencies that are
exchangeable for goods and services,” from cumbersome licensing
requirements that apply under extant securities and currency laws.
As previously reported, Polis’ 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 “Utility Tokens.”
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 Wyoming’s and Polis’ pledge as governor
indicate an avenue for utility tokens to be defined differently as
either securities or commodities.
of the U.S. states of California and Colorado in the country’s
midterm gubernatorial elections, fintech news outlet TrustNodes
reports Nov. 7.
In the California race, Democrat contender Gavin Newsom sealed 59
percent of the electorate’s support to defeat the Republican Party’s
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 Newsom’s 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 latter’s 45 percent. Polis’ 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 Colorado’s
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 “flock to the state,” stating
that their work can create “government applications that save
taxpayers money and create value for Colorado residents.”
To this end, Polis pledged “to create a statewide safe harbor
designed to exempt cryptocurrencies from state money transmissions
laws.” He further stated plans to work to “establish legislation that
protects ‘open blockchain tokens’ or cryptocurrencies that are
exchangeable for goods and services,” from cumbersome licensing
requirements that apply under extant securities and currency laws.
As previously reported, Polis’ 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 “Utility Tokens.”
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 Wyoming’s and Polis’ pledge as governor
indicate an avenue for utility tokens to be defined differently as
either securities or commodities.
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