Morvillo Abramowitz Successfully Helps Client Secure Groundbreaking Cryptocurrency Advisory Opinion from Federal Election Commission

April 25, 2019

Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello PC recently obtained a rare unanimous advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission regarding a groundbreaking proposal that would permit cryptocurrency mining for the benefit of U.S. political committees. The advisory opinion request asked the Commission to conclude that Morvillo Abramowitz’s client, OsiaNetwork LLC, would not violate the Federal Election Campaign Act by operating a web-based platform through which individuals could allow their computer’s processing power to be used to mine cryptocurrency for a political committee’s benefit. OsiaNetwork’s services would aggregate individuals’ computing power and allocate cryptocurrency rewards based on the amount of processing power a committee’s supporters provided. Although the FEC disagreed with OsiaNetwork’s position in an initial opinion, Morvillo Abramowitz and OsiaNetwork were able to persuade all four Commissioners to vote for a revised opinion which concluded that OsiaNetwork’s proposal was permissible so long as participating individuals did not exceed contribution limits or otherwise violate Commission restrictions on political contributions. Morvillo Abramowitz’s representation involved engagement with Commission staff, filing comments on the Commission’s draft opinion, and attending a public meeting of the Commission to advocate for unanimous adoption of the revised Commission opinion. OsiaNetwork LLC was represented by Morvillo Abramowitz partner Jonathan S. Sack and associate Brian A. Hunt.