The big dollars of politics have made their way into the fundraising arena of non-fungible tokens, a technology and cryptocurrency phenomenon of the times.
Arizona Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and California Democrat Shrina Kurani, running for a House seat, are among the pioneers trying to leverage the promise of big-dollar returns from NFTs to fund their campaigns, Bloomberg reported Monday.
Using the Bitcoin blockchain technology, NFTs are unique digital assets meant to be held, sold, or traded and not intended as currency.
Kurani said she is using NFTs as “our campaign merchandise” to attract younger voters, raising $6,610 through the end of December, according to the report.
Masters told Bloomberg he has raised nearly $575,000 in late December for NFTs of cover art for a book he wrote with Silicon Valley billionaire and Trump ally Peter Thiel.
The Federal Election Commission has permitted cryptocurrency campaign contributions for eight years, but still just about a dozen campaign committees have reported using the strategy to date, according to the FEC.
“Financial innovation is a good thing, including in politics,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., wrote to Bloomberg in a statement. “Digital assets are secure and easy to use, and while only a few members of Congress currently accept digital asset campaign donations, I know that number will grow.
“We are at the start of the digital asset revolution, and I hope my fellow senators will join me in championing financial innovation, because it will be a key factor in America’s continued global financial leadership.”