The Texas Ethics Commission reportedly put up a proposal for a new law, which calls for the recognition from authoritative officials and politicians, regarding Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto contributions. 

Specifically,  the Texas Secretary of State reportedly received the submitted filing for the proposal, which aims to tackle and shine light on the reporting requirements of crypto-enabled political contributions. 

“The new rule permits candidates, officeholders, and political committees to accept cryptocurrency. It does not distinguish between any types of cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin.”

Should the proposal receive the greenlight, it would be mandatory for crypto donations and contributions to be reported as in-kind contributions or as investments, not currency. 

Per the Commission, the initiative “mirrors the way the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) treat cryptocurrency contributions”. 

The proposal reportedly offers clarification that political and governmental campaigns will not have the power to allow for the direct crypto spending, and the crypto needs to be liquidated prior to spending the proceeds.

“The rule would not require filers to liquidate their cryptocurrency holdings within any particular timeframe.” The Commission additionally mentioned. 

Furthermore, the proposal reportedly seeks  to fight against the high volatility of cryptocurrencies via directing filers to report the value of any accepted cryptocurrency as the fair market value at the time of receipt.

How legal each crypto contribution is will reportedly be decided by an affirmation that the contributor is not a foreign national. The law would be subjected to Texas Government Code §571.062, which authorizes the Commission to adopt rules to administer Title 15 of the Election Code.