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Rand Paul is accepting donations in Bitcoin

by Timothy B. Lee
Darren McCollester/Getty Images

Rand Paul is expected to make monetary policy and the malignant influence of the Federal Reserve a major theme of his 2016 campaign for president. These hard-money views, popularized by Paul’s father in the last two presidential campaigns, are also popular in the Bitcoin community. Many Bitcoin fans see the decentralized virtual currency as an alternative to the dollar.

So it’s not surprising that Rand Paul is accepting bitcoins on his campaign website. Supporters can also pay by credit card and PayPal.

The transactions are being handled by BitPay, a startup that has signed up more than 100,000 merchants to accept Bitcoin payments. And this means Paul may not be holding onto any of the bitcoins supporters donate; BitPay offers the option to immediately convert payments into dollars, which are deposited into a conventional bank account.

Paul is capping Bitcoin donations at $100. Supporters who want to give more than that amount have to pay using more traditional means such as credit cards.

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