We are submitting evidence to this inquiry because we believe that continuing to allow cryptocurrency donations to political parties and candidates without proper safeguards poses significant risks by increasing opportunities for malign and hostile actors to interfere in our democracy and dirty money to flow into our political system.
The UK has been left particularly vulnerable to these threats by a criminal enforcement gap when it comes to upholding electoral law. Currently, there is no effective or consistent framework of deterrence against wrongdoing.
The Government’s recently published elections strategy contains proposals to beef up the Electoral Commission’s powers, strengthen rules around permissible donors and impose more in-depth ‘know your donor’ checks on political parties and unincorporated associations.
However, until the new Elections Act is passed with these measures in place, all cryptocurrency political donations should be regarded as high-risk.
Our evidence focuses on the following issues:
- The experience of the UK so far with cryptocurrency donations
- International experience of cryptocurrency donations
- The risks associated with cryptocurrency donations
Click on the link below to read the full submission.
