Hurricane Idalia delays Ron DeSantis’ reported plans to accept crypto campaign donations

The storm hit Florida first in the continental U.S., which may have stopped Ron DeSantis from joining Vivek Ramaswamy in accepting crypto donations for his presidential campaign.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis canceled a campaign event in which he was reportedly planning to announce the acceptance of cryptocurrency contributions toward his 2024 presidential run. 

According to an Aug. 29 report from the Miami Herald, DeSantis canceled a cocktail-hour fundraiser for his 2024 presidential campaign in which he was expected to start accepting donations in crypto. The cancellation was due to the approach of Hurricane Idalia — a storm that hit Florida’s coastline on Aug. 30 before moving into Georgia.

DeSantis appeared to abstain from campaign events in advance of the hurricane passing through Florida. He took to social media channels and press conferences to inform residents about evacuation orders and other relevant information.

Overnight, #Idalia strengthened and now has sustained hurricane-force winds.

It is still expected to make landfall at Florida’s Big Bend as a major hurricane tomorrow. If you are in the path of this storm, now is the time to finalize your preparations. Continue to follow @FLSERT… pic.twitter.com/3yCSHtIJIK

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) August 29, 2023

Since announcing his campaign in May to seek the Republican Party nomination for president of the United States, DeSantis has taken certain positions relevant to digital asset users. In July, he vowed to ban central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, should he win the presidency.

According to DeSantis’ campaign website, the candidate was only accepting fiat donations using a credit card. Cointelegraph reached out to the campaign for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

DeSantis, who is trailing by double digits to former President Donald Trump according to several polls, would be one of only a handful of candidates to accept donations in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) or Ether (ETH). Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced he would be accepting crypto campaign contributions in August but dropped out of the race after failing to qualify for the first Republican Party debate.

Campaigns for Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and longshot Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have both announced they will accept BTC contributions for their respective presidential runs. Many reports showed both Ramaswamy and Kennedy polling in the single digits as of Aug. 30 — far behind their respective party leaders, Trump and President Joe Biden.

Related: State caps or federal regulation: What’s next for political crypto donations

Historically, crypto contributions to individuals running for federal office, when accepted, have not been make-or-break for the candidates. Andrew Yang’s political action committee accepted BTC donations for his 2020 campaign, but he ended up dropping out of the race in February 2020.

Lawmakers in certain U.S. states have aimed to regulate disclosure rules for digital asset contributions or otherwise establish a limit to the amount any one person can give in crypto. In December 2022, the U.S. Federal Election Commission issued an advisory suggesting companies could provide nonfungible tokens to campaign contributors.

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