[Election 2022] Ruling party candidate to accept cryptocurrency for campaign donations

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, will accept cryptocurrency for campaign donations, his party said on Sunday, amid growing interest in virtual assets among young voters.

According to Lee’s election committee, it will issue nonfungible tokens as receipts to those who donate virtual currencies to support the presidential nominee, starting from mid-January. Bitcoin, Ethereum and up to three other cryptocurrencies are under review. The committee will announce what kind of cryptocurrencies they accept at its formal launch.

The NFT will carry the candidate’s photographs and his election pledges, the party added.

Rep. Lee Kwang-jae, who is in charge of the future economy committee in the campaign team, said his party has been preparing for the new donation method for the past months and has been told it does not violate any laws related to the election from the National Election Commission.

“Lee Jae-myung will be the world’s first presidential candidate who issues NFTs in the world,” Rep. Lee said.

“With politics, we should break the regulations and foster new industries such as metaverse and NFT and give hope to the young people.”

Rep. Lee was the first to announce the plan to accept political donations in cryptocurrencies for himself on Thursday.

According to Rep. Lee, the cryptocurrency donated will be converted into cash on a cryptocurrency exchange to be deposited into the contribution account.

The receipt will be delivered via email.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)