The US Federal Election Commission (FEC) has released an advisory opinion indicating that DataVault Holdings may use NFTs for fundraising purposes.
The FEC stated in a December 15 notification that it was “permissible” for DataVault holdings to deliver nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, to political campaign contributors without breaching corporate contribution laws. According to the electoral commission, DataVault would be paid “appropriate compensation” for each NFT distributed to contributors and will keep track of all tokens distributed for its own records.
“The Commission concludes that DataVault’s proposals to provide political committees with NFTs on the same terms that it regularly offers its non-political clients would be a permissible extension of credit by DataVault in the ordinary course of business,” said FEC Chair Allen Dickerson. “Under the Act and Commission regulations, an incorporated commercial vendor may extend credit to political committees under terms substantially similar to those the vendor offers non-political debtors. DataVault is a ‘commercial vendor’ because its usual and normal business involves the provision of the same services that it proposes to provide to political committees.”
Nathaniel Bradley, CEO of DataVault, stated:
“We are very pleased by the unanimous approval by the FEC of our patented DataVault platform for use by political campaigns here in the US. In a broader view, we believe, Blockchain technology represents the future for elections that seek to be trusted and transparent in their outcomes in the future.”
DataVault’s legal team requested in September that the company be permitted to deliver NFTs as keepsakes — “in a manner analogous to a campaign hat” — to those who contributed to political parties. Token holders would also be able to use the tokens to promote a campaign “strictly on a voluntary basis and without any pay.” Any fees from issuing NFTs or transactions will be listed as a “fundraising expense,” according to DataVault.
In 2019, the FEC published a similar advisory opinion on blockchain tokens, stating that they were “materially identical from traditional forms of campaign gifts.” In that example, congressional candidate Omar Reyes’ tokens had “no monetary value” and were utilized as an incentive to participate in campaign volunteer activities.
NFTs have been linked to political campaigns all across the world. In South Korea, the campaign for Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung announced in January that people who donated would receive NFTs with photographs of the politician and campaign pledges.
