Due to worries about foreign meddling in politics, cryptocurrency donations to political parties will be prohibited in Ireland under new political integrity legislation being created.
Minister Darragh O’Brien’s amendments also address rules governing foreign donations, misinformation, and other transparency requirements for political parties, expressing concerns about Russian meddling in Ireland’s elections.
In an interview with the Independent on April 18th, O’Brien stated that the rules will strengthen Ireland’s political system “given the rising threat of cyber warfare attacking free countries,” and that the regulations will be monitored by a newly constituted Electoral Commission.
It’s unclear what proportion or dollar amount of political donations are currently made in cryptocurrencies to political parties or individuals.
Due to concerns over the impending Russia-Ukraine war, O’Brien began his campaign to modify the regulations in January 2022, forming a task team of political scientists and legal professionals to examine new election legislation.
The task committee recommended a number of measures to create a “legal and digital bulwark” against election intervention in the country, including parties offering streamlined accounting reporting and declarations of compliance with new political fundraising regulations.
Ireland’s crypto stance
The Irish central bank has previously been hostile to cryptocurrency, stating in February that it was unlikely to approve investment vehicles with crypto exposure for individual investors because they lacked a “high degree of knowledge.”
The following month, the Central Bank of Ireland issued a warning to customers about crypto assets, advising them to be wary of “the risks of deceptive promotions, particularly on social media, where influencers are paid to advertise crypto assets.”
The state of California, for example, outlawed crypto political donations in 2018, citing difficulties of transparency and the fact that cryptocurrencies are “impossible to track.” According to statistics from Multistate, three other US states, Oregon, Michigan, and North Carolina, have laws prohibiting the use of cryptocurrency in campaign finance.
