Lee Jae-Myung, the ruling party’s candidate for the upcoming presidential elections in South Korea, has announced plans to raise funds in cryptocurrencies and issue non-fungible tokens (NFT) to supporters.
Through this initiative, Lee hopes his campaign to attract young and tech-savvy Korean voters whose interest in digital assets is growing.
Korean media reported on Sunday that the Democratic Party of Korea, the country’s leading political force, will raise election funds using cryptocurrency and issue receipts to donors in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The funds will be used to finance the campaign of the party’s presidential nominee, Lee Jae-Myung.
Three other cryptocurrencies are currently being considered, including bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and ripple (XRP). The Korean Herald and Yonhap news agency reported that the final list of accepted coins will be announced in mid-January by the committee managing Lee’s run.
Donors to the presidential fundraising campaign will see photos of the candidate and his election pledges when they donate to the NFTs. Tokens will allow campaign officials to reach younger voters, especially those who are digital natives, more engagingly.
Elaborating further Kim Nam-kook said, ”Since the young generation in their 20s and 30s is interested in emerging technologies such as virtual assets, NFTs, and the metaverse, this type of fundraising can appeal to them.”
Democratic Party officials are exploring the use of cryptocurrency donations and NFT receipts to showcase their commitment to technology and engage millennials. The National Election Commission informed Lee Kwang-jae, who heads the committee on the future economy in the campaign team, that accepting cryptocurrency does not violate any election laws.
In a blog post posted on Thursday, Lee Kwang-jae announced that he would start taking digital coins from supporters. “With politics, we should break the regulations and foster new industries such as metaverse and NFT,” he said. Lee Jae-Myung would become the world’s first candidate to issue NFTs as part of efforts to finance a presidential bid if his initiative succeeds.
Donated digital money will be converted into Korean one through a crypto exchange and deposited into the campaign’s account as non-fungible tokens. The tokens, representing political memorabilia, will also hold future value and serve as an investment for donors.
