Cryptocurrencies creep into US politics as candidates offer NFTs
Congressional candidates are beginning to break into the world of cryptocurrencies by selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to help finance their campaigns in the midterm elections. Democrat Shrina Kurani, an engineer who’s running for a House seat in California, and Republican Blake Masters, who’s vying for the Senate in Arizona, have offered NFTs as incentives for donors, to varying degrees of success.
But these are still the early days of crypto’s push into politics. Few candidates have cashed in on its rise, which includes a 60% gain in Bitcoin’s value in 2021 and an NFT artwork selling for $69.3 million at a Christie’s auction.
An NFT is “minted” with a unique digital certificate of authenticity using the same blockchain technology that creates Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency. But it’s meant to be held, sold, or traded as an asset, rather than used as currency, and it costs money to produce—as do campaign T-shirts and other swag.
“NFTs are our campaign merchandise,” Kurani said in an interview.
Kurani, who said she was the first to distribute NFTs to campaign donors through a digital marketplace called SolSea, said she’s offering NFTs to seek support from a younger generation the way former President Donald Trump has used MAGA hats to raise millions of dollars from his supporters.
She raised only $6,610 and gave out fewer than a dozen tokens when the offer expired at the end of December.
Masters said he raised nearly $575,000 in late December by promising to give donors tokens with cover art for a book about startup companies that he wrote with Silicon Valley billionaire and top Trump ally Peter Thiel.
Fundraising consultants say crypto is still a ways off from becoming a regular source for contributions, and there are
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