The presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea will become the world’s first politician to issue NFTs for political fundraising.
NFTs go political in South Korea
Have you heard of Lee Jae-myung? Chances are that you have not, but Mr. Lee is set to become the world’s first politician to use NFTs for political fundraising.
Being the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Mr. Lee is facing an election at the beginning of March. To prop up the party’s coffers, the DPK is set to send photos and policies of Mr. Lee to supporters, who will be able to buy them as NFTs. According to an explanation of the party, these serve as a kind of bond that holders can exchange with other individuals.
The National Election Commission confirmed in December that fundraising through NFTs does not violate the country’s Political Funds Act or the Public Official Election Act, thereby opening up a potentially spicy new use case for NFTs.
Park Young-sun, who is in charge of digitalisation policies at the DPK’s election campaign committee and a former minister of SMEs and start-ups, announced that she had successfully sold an NFT worth more than $3,000 AUD on January 1.
The campaign is an effort to bolster Mr. Lee’s chances at the polling booths, as he tries to win over young voters by supporting the country’s strong game industry that advocates for the use of NFTs. In an interview with a popular Korean gaming Youtuber in December, Mr. Lee said that Korea should lead the global trend of integrating games with NFTs, instead of denying the technology’s existence.
Politicians and crypto…an unexpected love story?
This news is all the more baffling, considering that Korea has been quite stringent in regulating cryptocurrencies, which resulted in the infamous “Kimchi premium.” This premium is a mark-up on the global market price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, as Koreans are banned from using international exchanges, and any interaction between the crypto ecosystem and the traditional financial system is subject to strict capital controls.
However, Mr. Lee and the DPK are not the first political players to discover that cryptocurrencies may actually be conducive to their interests. In an effort to sway voters, several US mayors have announced they would become the first to accept their salary in Bitcoin. Miami mayor Francis Suarez has been particularly outspoken in his support for Bitcoin. His constituents are set to receive their first yield in Bitcoin soon, thanks to the city’s own cryptocurrency called Miami Coin.
But it’s not only advocates that use Bitcoin and other crypto when it suits them. Russia, a well-known crypto skeptic that teeters on banning Bitcoin every few months, considers replacing its USD reserves, or at least a part thereof, with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
“Politicians doing politician stuff” one may say, but you know it’s serious when even the most powerful circles start using it. If you needed any more indicators that NFTs are more than just overpriced entries on a ledger, this definitely is one.
