Share this article
US Congressman Tom Emmer Will Accept Crypto Donations for Reelection Campaign
Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota will accept crypto donations for his campaign, facilitated through BitPay.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 9:46 a.m. Published Aug 20, 2020, 4:44 p.m.
Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota will accept crypto donations for his campaign.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and member of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus opened his first cryptocurrency town hall on Thursday with the announcement, telling CoinDesk that BitPay will process all donations.
The town hall, announced last week, was held in conjunction with the Chamber of Digital Commerce PAC to celebrate innovators in the crypt industry and to encourage engaged voters to participate in political discourse.
CDC founder and President Perianne Boring told CoinDesk contributors can make donations to Emmer’s campaign using any of the eight cryptocurrencies supported by BitPay, including bitcoin, bitcoin cash, Gemini’s U.S. dollar stablecoin and Circle’s USDC.
Emmer is not the first politician to accept crypto contributions. In 2015, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) accepted bitcoin to fund his presidential campaign. Last year, Democrats Rep. Eric Salwell of California and Andrew Yang both accepted crypto donations for their presidential campaigns as well. But, according to Boring, Rep. Emmer’s initiative is different.
“He's engaging the community. It's more than just adding a button on his campaign website. It's about including more people in the political process, especially young people who prefer to leverage advanced technologies," Boring said.
The crypto town hall was described as a “celebration” of innovators in the crypto space, and featured industry leaders BitPay CEO Stephan Pair, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, eToro Managing Director Guy Hirsch, Bloq co-founder and Chairman Matthew Roszak as well as Paxos co-founder and CEO Chad Cascarilla.
More For You
L1 tokens broadly underperformed in 2025 despite a backdrop of regulatory and institutional wins. Explore the key trends defining ten major blockchains below.
What to know:
2025 was defined by a stark divergence: structural progress collided with stagnant price action. Institutional milestones were reached and TVL increased across most major ecosystems, yet the majority of large-cap Layer-1 tokens finished the year with negative or flat returns.
This report analyzes the structural decoupling between network usage and token performance. We examine 10 major blockchain ecosystems, exploring protocol versus application revenues, key ecosystem narratives, mechanics driving institutional adoption, and the trends to watch as we head into 2026.
More For You
Bitcoin rises above $89,000, showing rare gain in U.S. trading
Open interest data suggests the advance is likely short-covering, rather than fresh longs entering the market.
What to know:
- Bitcoin was trading higher during U.S. market hours, marking a notable shift after a month in which BTC fell roughly 20 percent cumulatively while American stocks were open.
- Declining open interest suggests the move is driven by short-covering rather than fresh leveraged longs.
- Broader crypto markets remain fragile as ETF outflows, tax-related positioning, and light holiday liquidity pressure prices.
Top Stories
