In January, the Democratic Party of South Korea campaign said it would issue NFTs that contain pictures of Lee Jae-myung and his campaign promises to those who donate to the campaign.
The United States Federal Election Commission (FEC) has ruled that DataVault Holdings may use nonfungible tokens for fundraising efforts.
DataVault, a political action committee based in Washington, D.C., said Dec. 15 that it can now send nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, to contributors without running afoul of election laws that restrict corporate contributions. DataVault, which has already confirmed that it will receive “reasonable compensation” for each NFT, will also keep a record of all tokens distributed, according to the committee.
“DataVault’s propositions to offer political committees data vaults on the same terms as non-political customers is acceptable, according to the FEC,” said FEC Chair Allen Dickerson. “Under the Act and Commission rules, a company can extend credit to political committees in a manner that is comparable to what it does for non-political customers. DataVault is a ‘commercial firm’ since it offers the same goods and services as it would to political committees.”
Bradley, the CEO of DataVault, said:
DataVault hopes to distribute non-fungible tokens as campaign souvenirs in September. The tokens would allow users to dedicate their tokens solely to campaigning without receiving any monetary reward. DataVault says that any fees incurred when issuing non-fungible tokens or conducting transactions would be treated as a fundraising expenditure.
The FEC similarly stated in 2019 that certain blockchain tokens were “materially indistinguishable from traditional forms of campaign souvenirs.” In that instance, congressional candidate Omar Reyes’ tokens had “no monetary value” and were used as an incentive to engage in volunteer activities for his campaign.
NFTs have been used in political campaigns globally. In January, the Democratic Party of South Korea campaign said it would provide NFTs displaying pictures of candidate Lee Jae-myung and his promises of financial support to those who donated.
