The legal team behind nonfungible token firm DataVault Holdings has requested an advisory opinion from the United States Federal Election Commission on using NFTs for fundraising efforts.

In a Sept. 21 letter to FEC acting general counsel Lisa Stevenson, DataVault’s lawyers proposed sending NFTs as “souvenirs” to individuals who contributed to political committees, as well as giving the token holder the option to use it for promoting a campaign “strictly on a volunteer basis and without any compensation.” The NFT firm requested the FEC provide guidance on how it may operate as a commercial vendor — issuing the tokens to political committee members seemingly without violating federal campaign finance laws.

“DataVault’s activities to political committees will be conducted on a strictly commercial basis and DataVault will not seek to influence, affirmatively or negatively, the nomination or election of any candidate to Federal office,” said DataVault’s counsel Elliot Berke. “DataVault would provide the NFTs to political committees in the same manner and normal course of business as other non-political committee clients.”

According to DataVault’s proposals, the firm planned to market NFTs “in a manner akin to a campaign hat or souvenirs,” intending to have political committees offer them to high-volume low-dollar donors. The tokens could be used for VIP access at different campaign events, or contain artwork or literature related to a candidate’s policies. Any fees from issuing NFTs or transactions would be reported as a “fundraising expenditure,” according to DataVault's example scenario:

DataVault’s legal team requested the FEC provide clarification on whether the firm could “design and market NFTs to political committees” as