SNEAK PEEK
- The legal team behind DataVault Holdings has asked for an advisory opinion on utilizing non-fungible tokens for fundraising.
- The NFT company has also requested the FEC for guidance on how to function as a commercial vendor.
- DataVault will offer the NFTs to political committees just like they are offered to non-political committee clients.
DataVault Holdings’ legal team has appealed to the United States Federal Election Commission for an advisory opinion on the usage of NFTs for fundraising purposes.
In a letter dated on September 21 to Lisa Stevenson, FEC acting general counsel, lawyers of DataVault proposed sending non-fungible tokens as mementos to those who made a contribution to political committees. They also proposed to provide token owners the right to utilize them for campaign promotion on a volunteer basis without compensation.
The NFT company asked the FEC for guidance on how to work like a vendor and issue tokens to members of political committees without going against finance laws of the federal campaign.
Elliot Berke, DataVault’s counsel, said that its activities to political committees will be based on a rigorously commercial basis. Also, DataVault won’t influence, positively as well as negatively, any candidate’s nomination or election to Federal office.
Based on the proposal of DataVault, the company has planned to market non-fungible tokens in a way that is similar to a campaign hat or mementos, with a goal of making political committees offer them to numerous yet low-cost donors.
The tokens are eligible to be utilized for VIP access at various campaign events, or include literature or artwork associated with the policies of a candidate. Fees from issuing NFTs or transactions would be described as a fundraising expenditure.
The legal team has also requested the FEC for clarity on whether the company can design as well as market tokens to political committees besides offering them to incentivize contributors.
