South Korean presidential candidate to use NFT to raise campaign funds

Lee Jae-Myung of the ruling Democratic Party is looking to use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to fund his presidential campaign. A report unveiled this news on January 2, noting that Jae-Myung intends to woo young, tech-savvy voters to join his camp through this move. Reportedly, the NFTs will feature Jae-Myung’s face and election pledges.

According to the report, the Democratic Party will issue the NFTs to people that contribute to Jae-Myung’s campaign for the upcoming March 9 presidential election. His team believes NFTs will serve as a new medium for messages to voters. On top of this, the committee claims the digital collectibles would introduce political memorabilia to a new generation of digital natives.

Are you looking for fast-news, hot-tips and market analysis?

Sign-up for the Invezz newsletter, today.

Commenting on this fundraising strategy, Kim Nam-kook, a campaign committee official, said,

As the young generation in their 20s and 30s are interested in emerging technologies, including virtual assets, NFTs and the metaverse, this type of fundraising could appeal to them.

Apart from NFTs, the Democratic Party is also looking for other ways to embrace emerging technologies, including accepting crypto donations. If Jae-Myung successfully raises funds through NFTs, the party claims he will become the first-ever presidential candidate to use digital collectibles to finance his campaign.

Politicians continue embracing emerging technologies to raise funds

This news comes after Rep. Lee Kwang-jae of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea announced that he would start accepting crypto donations in mid-January. This option will allow anyone that seeks to support him to send crypto to his office’s wallet. Reportedly, the wallet’s manager would convert the received crypto into the Korean won and deposit the money into Kwang-jae’s sponsorship account.

Explaining why he decided to embrace crypto donations, Kwang-Jae said,

I have had a deep sense of regret that the politicians here have had an outdated perception of digital assets at a crucial time when the blockchain technologies used for cryptocurrencies, NFTs and the metaverse, are advancing rapidly day after day.

He added that it is high time South Korean leaders start experimenting with cryptos to improve their understanding of the technology and change their outlook on digital currencies and NFTs.

While South Korean politicians are keen on exploiting the benefits of embracing crypto and NFTs, it is worth pointing out that this trend started in the past year. For instance, Blake Masters, an Arizona Senate candidate, disclosed that he seeks to offer his supporters NFTs of Zero to One, a book he co-authored with billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel.