The rise of NFTs in politics

NFTs enter the world of politics. Ever since the Federal Election Commission announced last year that congressional candidates could use NFTs for fundraising, quite a few have jumped on the bandwagon. Most recently, ex-President Donald Trump has been reported to have raised anywhere from $100,000 to $1 million from the sale of NFTs bearing Trump’s likeness.

However, Trump’s official website explains that the proceeds from the NFT sale will not go into his re-election campaign. The project has generated $19 million in sales since its inception, but it is unclear how much of that goes into Trump’s personal pockets.

It is unclear how much the ex-president is profiting from this initiative since he is not responsible for minting the NFTs. It is done by NFT INC LLC. The registered agent used to incorporate the LLC is Wyoming Corporate Services, a service that registers corporations. Among the many scenarios this company is involved in is the issue of US military equipment being sold to Turkey for cheaper reproduction, involvement in telemarketing fraud, as well as links to former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who was once ranked as the eighth most corrupt official. in the world of a watchdog group.

It is unclear, however, how much of this money goes into Trump’s personal use. Also, ever since the launch of the Trump Trading Cards, several Twitter users have alleged a number of wrongdoings:

1. The company that created the collectibles has stockpiled its rarest NFTs
2. The project relies on poorly edited archive images
3. Most of the buyers of the collections created new wallets without keeping any crypto in them and linked them with an NFT

Regarding the storage charge, NFTHerder told CoinDesk: “If this was a collection of 10,000 units about monkeys, the whole controversy would blow up about how this is a blanket and a scam, and that the team has a quarter of the rarest supply. “

NFTs for political fundraising:

Unlike Trump, some candidates are actually considering NFTs as a source of funding for their campaigns, with some success.

• For example, Democrat Shrina Kurani’s NFT’s “Shrina Kurani for Congress” went live for 72 hours. It raised $6,610 which was part of the final $412,000 her campaign managed to raise by the end of the campaign last March.
• Similarly, Olikara, an activist who ran in the Democratic primary last August in opposition to Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson issued 30 NFTs for $50 dollars each, raising $1,500 in total.
• Republican Blake Masters running for the Senate from Arizona sold 99 NFTs and reached $5,800 in sales. His plan was created in cohort with billionaire Peter Thiel, who proposed that the NFTs should carry images of their co-written book Zero to One. According to Masters’ tweet, NFT owners will have exclusive access to parties with him and Thiel and a private Discord group.

These NFT-forward political hopefuls promise to bring a fresh attitude to how Web3 technologies are viewed by government. At the same time, there are concerns that charitable fundraising through NFTs may be more difficult to track and may raise questions about transparency.

Also, unlike regular old small donors, donations made by purchasing NFTs may not come from a place of holistic political agreement. Instead, they may be run by crypto enthusiasts and those who want access to powerful people and thought leaders.