DataVault Seeks U.S. Elections Agency Advice on Sending NFTs as Campaign Fundraising Incentive

The company planned to market NFTs "like a campaign hat or souvenirs", intending to make so that the political committees propose them to high donors at low volume.

The legal team behind non-fungible token company DataVault Holdings has sought an advisory opinion from the US Federal Election Commission on the use of NFTs for fundraising efforts.

In a September 21 letter to FEC Acting General Counsel Lisa Stevenson, DataVault attorneys offered to send NFTs as "keepsakes" to people who have contributed to political committees, as well as giving the token holder the ability to use it to promote a campaign. "strictly on a voluntary basis and without any remuneration". The firm NFT asked the FEC to provide advice on how it can operate as a commercial provider – issuing the tokens to political committee members apparently without violating federal campaign finance laws.

"DataVault's activities with political committees will be conducted on a strictly business basis and DataVault will not seek to influence, positively or negatively, the nomination or election of any candidate for federal office," said the DataVault attorney, Elliot Berke. "DataVault would provide NFTs to political committees in the same manner and in the normal course of business as other non-political committee clients."

According to DataVault's proposals, the company planned to market NFTs "in a manner akin to a campaign hat or memorabilia", with the intention of having political committees offer high volume and low amount donors. The tokens could be used for VIP access to different campaign events, or contain artwork or literature related to a candidate's policies. Any NFT issuance or transaction fees would be reported as a "fundraising expense", per DataVault's example scenario:

"An NFT costs $10.00 and is provided by DataVault to a Campaign Committee. The NFT is provided by the Campaign Committee to contributors who contribute $10.00. Once the Campaign Committee has collected an NFT-related contribution, it records the $10.00 contribution and pays DataVault a $3.00 fee as a regular and normal fundraising expense."

The DataVault legal team asked the FEC...