The US Federal Election Commission (FEC) has issued an advisory opinion stating that DataVault Holdings may use non-fungible tokens to raise funds.
In a Dec. 15 notice, the FEC said it was “permissible” for DataVault to send non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, to political campaign contributors without violating corporate contribution rules. According to the electoral agency, DataVault will receive “reasonable compensation” for each NFT issued to contributors, as well as keep track of all issued tokens for its own records.
“The Commission concludes that DataVault’s proposals to provide NFT to political committees on the same terms that it regularly offers to its non-political clients would be an extension of credit permitted by DataVault in the ordinary course of business,” the Commission’s president said. FEC, Allen Dickerson. Under the Act and Commission regulations, an incorporated commercial seller may grant credit to political committees on substantially similar terms to those it offers to non-political debtors.” DataVault is a “commercial vendor” because its usual and normal business involves providing the same services that it proposes to provide to political committees.”
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Nathaniel Bradley, CEO of DataVault:
“We are very pleased with the FEC’s unanimous approval of our proprietary DataVault platform for use by political campaigns here in the US. In a broader view, we believe, Blockchain technology represents the future for trustworthy elections.” and transparent in their results in the future”.
In September, DataVault’s legal team proposed that the company be allowed to send NFTs as a souvenir – “similar to a campaign cap” – to people who contribute to political committees. The tokens would also give their holders the option to use them to promote a campaign “strictly on a voluntary basis and without any compensation.” Any fees derived from the issuance of an NFT or from transactions would be reported as a “fundraising expense,” according to DataVault.
The FEC issued a similar advisory opinion in 2019 on blockchain tokens, saying that some were “materially indistinguishable from traditional forms of campaign memorabilia.” In that case, congressional candidate Omar Reyes’ tokens had “no monetary value” and were used as an incentive to engage in volunteer activities for the campaign.
At times, NFTs have been linked to political campaigns around the world. In South Korea, the campaign of Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung said in January that it would broadcast NFTs with images of the politician and his election promises to those who made donations.
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