Political Hopefuls Turn to NFTs to Raise Funds for Midterm Elections

“I thought it would be a more creative way of fundraising,” said Mr. Masters.

NFTs are digital assets that use the blockchain technology behind cryptocurrencies to create unique tokens that serve as a digital proof of ownership for original art and music, among other assets.

They gained widespread attention in early 2021, punctuated by artist Beeple selling a digital image as an NFT for $69.3 million through auctioneer Christie’s. Sales then skyrocketed for about a year but are now slumping and are well off their highs, due in part to a pullback by investors in speculative assets.

While some NFTs have been bought as investments, these NFTs offered by candidates seeking donations are akin to other forms of campaign swag like hats and buttons, officials say, and don’t raise significant new campaign-finance questions.

“There has been a longstanding history of campaigns handing out all sorts of interesting things. If they think donors enjoy NFTs, that’s fine with us as long as it falls within contribution limits,” said

Ellen Weintraub,

a Democratic member of the Federal Election Commission. Ms. Weintraub said that although NFTs are a fairly new technology, they fit “plainly into existing rules and regulations.”

The contribution limit for individuals is $2,900 per election—meaning $5,800 for the primary and general—so any NFT purchase from a campaign must not exceed that amount. Such donations are subject to the same limits as cash per contributor, currently $2,900 per election.

“NFTs are the hot new thing, but they don’t present any hot new problems,” said Ms. Weintraub.

Mr. Masters said he sold 99 NFTs—based on early cover art of his book “Zero to One”—for the contribution limit of $5,800, and raised nearly $575,000 for his campaign. He said the NFTs sold out within 36 hours.

While some of his donations came from people who would have contributed with or without the incentive of an NFT, Mr. Masters said there was also a considerable amount of donations from people who are “less engaged” with his campaign. There were “Gen Z, Gen X and even some baby boomers” donating to his campaign by purchasing NFTs, he said.

Mr. Masters said he is rolling out a second campaign with 20,000 NFTs in May or June based on original “Zero to One” art. The Arizona primary is in early August.

According to campaign filings, he has raised about $3.7 million from all sources by the end of March, in his bid to win the Republican nomination to challenge Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly.

Ms. Kurani, who is running in a House primary in June to represent a district in Southern California, markets herself as an engineer and problem solver. Her NFTs went live on Solsea for 72 hours last Christmas.

“It was a bit of an experiment,” said Ms. Kurani.

Her initial goal was to raise $5,000, and she said that within a couple of days, she had already surpassed that goal.

“That would’ve been hours of me on the phone, dialing for dollars,” said Ms. Kurani of the advantages of NFT sales. “We’re hoping to do more in the future—this is the very beginning.”

Ms. Kurani launched more NFTs in March on Abris, a crypto marketplace where people can buy and sell NFTs. This collection is marketed as supporting Ms. Kurani’s mission to “advocate for more crypto-literate leaders in Congress.”

Her team netted about $14,000 from NFT sales, part of the roughly $412,000 her campaign received by the end of March.

Mr. Olikara, an activist running in the crowded Democratic primary in August to challenge Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, said he got the inspiration for launching his collection of NFTs after buying stock in the Green Bay Packers, which is owned by fans.

Mr. Olikara said he released 30 NFTs for $50 each, raising $1,500. Mr. Olikara says the purpose of his NFT collection, which illustrates the candidate in watercolors, was to communicate his campaign values in a creative way. Mr. Olikara has raised about $372,000 for his race from all sources by the end of March.

“When I was preparing to launch this campaign, I knew I wanted the arts and music to be an integral part of it. It’s authentic to who I am and it’s such a powerful way to connect with voters,” said Mr. Olikara.