Would you go mining to support your favorite federal candidate? Mining for cryptocurrency, that is.

OsiaNetwork LLC, a newly formed limited liability company in Delaware, has asked the Federal Election Commission whether it’s legal for people to share the processing power of their computers and other internet-enabled devices to “mine” potentially valuable cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin — and support political campaigns with the windfall.

Not much is known about OsiaNetwork LLC. The firm was incorporated August 13 in Delaware, a state that requires little information to set up a company, and OsiaNetwork’s lawyer declined to provide any details. But its novel request comes at a time when government officials are struggling to regulate cryptocurrencies in politics — and even just understand them. Nevertheless, some politicians and political groups are showing an increasing willingness to accept and use cryptocurrencies, which are a type of digital or virtual currency.

Nine federal candidates, parties and super PACs together received the equivalent of almost $570,000 in cryptocurrency donations in the 2017-2018 election cycle, according to an analysis of federal records by the Center for Public Integrity.

Credit by - the Center for Public Integrity

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