Representing California, Democrat Shrina Kurani and Arizona Republican Blake Masters proposed NFT to raise funds during their campaigns for the U.S. Congress. Bloomberg reports.
The initiative helped Kurani garner support from younger voters. Through the SolSea marketplace she attracted $6,610.
Masters raised $575,000 with the promise of giving supporters an NFT with the cover of a startup book. He co-authored it with PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel.
According to political consultants, cryptocurrencies are still far from becoming a reliable source of donations. In addition, there remains uncertainty about compliance with campaign-finance rules.
Eight years after the Federal Election Commission approved the ability to contribute via digital assets, only 12 campaign committees had used the option. Collectively their fundraising totaled around $1 million, while thousands of candidates overall raised tens of billions of dollars in fiat.
According to Democrat adviser Mike Freoli, such statistics indicate that for most people digital assets remain a mystery.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who accepts donations in Bitcoin, seeks to provide regulatory clarity for cryptocurrencies.
“Financial innovations are good, including in politics. Currently only a few members of Congress accept cryptocurrencies, but their number will grow. We are at the beginning of the digital assets revolution,” the politician said.
Committees and donors, as a rule, approach new technologies with caution due to strict campaign-finance rules. Online contributions via credit cards, first approved in 1999, did not gain wide adoption until after Barack Obama’s victory in the 2008 presidential election.
Critics fear that cryptocurrencies could be used to hide donors’ names, which is prohibited by federal law.
Democratic representatives in 2014 urged that such contributions not exceed $100 due to tracking difficulties. Thanks to a Republican stance, this limit was not imposed, but they required the same disclosure rules and restrictions as for other types of donations.
Led by Rep. Tom Emmer, the National Republican Congressional Committee began accepting cryptocurrencies in June. According to the lawmaker, “the innovative technology will provide Republicans with the resources needed for success.” The committee did not provide the agency with information on the amount raised.
Similar cryptocurrency fundraising has also drawn interest in South Korea. According to Korea Times, Li Jae-man, a candidate from the ruling Democratic Party in the 2022 presidential election, will issue an NFT to fund his campaign. Sponsors will be able to pay with Bitcoin, Ethereum and three other cryptocurrencies, to be chosen later.
Earlier concerns were raised that such fundraising could violate the Political Funds Act or the Elections Act for government officials.
As reported, at least one senator and four U.S. congressmen bought Bitcoin or shares in cryptocurrency-related companies.
In December, the Congress held hearings with top executives from the crypto industry, which, according to the outcome of the meeting, noted a high level of engagement by lawmakers.
Later, the Senate held hearings on stablecoins.
Subscribe to ForkLog news on Facebook!