Massachusetts Allows Pirate Party to Collect Donations in Bitcoin

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In response to a local pirate party’s inquiry regarding accepting political donations in the form of bitcoin, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has given group the green light to collect the digital currency — but not without with strict rules.

The Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance wrote that the pirate party may accept bitcoin from any United States Citizen not exceeding $500. The funds cannot be spent by the pirate party themselves (treated similarly to stock donations, and must be converted to U.S. dollars within 5 days of receipt at a high-volume exchange that openly does business in the United States.

But perhaps more controversially is the requirement that the pirate party must get a proper name and address of each donor. For a digital currency that is very much about anonymity, this could pose a problem.

Nonetheless, it’s still a move in the right direction.

The pirate party in Massachusetts expects to begin collecting bitcoin donations in the next two weeks. Read the official letter here. (via TorrentFreak)