The US Federal Election Commission authorizes the creation of NFTs as incentives in political campaigns.
US political committees will be able to use non-fungible tokens or NFTs as a tool to incentivize the collection of campaign funds, the country's Federal Election Commission explained in a release.
The FEC, the government agency charged with overseeing campaign finance in U.S. federal elections, has issued an advisory opinion on enforcement in response to a request for advice from DataVault Holdings on the minting of NFTs in campaign fundraising efforts.
According to the agency, DataVault Holdings can use non-fungible tokens to help political committees raise funds without breaking the law, because the company is engaged in offering these digital assets in the ordinary course of its business and would provide its services to political clients in the same manner and under the same conditions as it does to its non-political clients, the FEC said.
The NFT company is authorized to issue and deliver non-fungible items to its political clients in a non-partisan manner and without persuasive or suggestive capabilities that could influence the opinion of voters.
NFTs are coming to political campaigns
The FEC has explained that the NFTs that political committees will be able to offer through DataVault Holdings will have Functions similar to campaign memories, such as caps, patches, badges, among others.
The NFT company had presented a proposal on the integration of non-fungible tokens into political campaigns last September. In said proposal, DataVault Holdings indicated that personalized NFTs could be created, including files (audio, music, videos) or graphic material from the campaigns, to offer as souvenirs to voters and contributors who make a contribution of a certain amount.
The company also proposed issuing NFTs that provide their holders and owners with exclusive or VIP access to certain campaign events.
Non-fungible tokens as a financing alternative
The popularity that NFTs have gained in the digital economy is mainly due to their ability to prove ownership. These digital assets are being widely used by artists, musicians, creators, and collectors to verify and authenticate their works, creations, and the intellectual property over them.
However, thanks to the momentum and popularization that the crypto industry and blockchain technology have gained in recent years, NFTs have also expanded to other sectors, including campaigns.
Earlier this month, former US President Donald Trump launched his first official collection of NFT tokens. In total, the businessman and politician created 45.000 non-fungible tokens as part of his collection titled “Collect Trump Cards.” Each of the digital assets in this NFT collection was sold for a price of $99, selling out within a few hours.
Donald Trump's NFT collection was initially ridiculed by the crypto community and even by his political supporters. Still, while there is quite a bit of controversy surrounding the images Trump used to create his NFT tokens and the sale in general, according to analysts, this crypto collection could serve as an example for other politicians and creators who wish to commercialize their projects.
Similar to the proposal submitted by DataVault Holdings to the FEC in September, Donald Trump offered his buyers the possibility of accessing special rewards for acquiring his digital assets, such as a dinner with him in Miami, a private meeting at Mar-A-Lago and a private call via Zoom, among other things.
In South Korea, current President Yoon Suk-yeol also used NFTs as part of their campaign presidential election this 2022, issuing more than 20.000 of these digital assets.
Continue reading: USPTO registers over 100 NFT trademarks so far this year
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