chepicap.com
It is being reported by Coindesk that a US Congressional candidate in Florida is exploring the idea of giving Ethereum based tokens to campaign volunteers as an incentive, and apparently federal officials approve.
Omar Reyes, currently running for office in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, recently sent a request to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for the right to give tokens to "potential volunteers and any voters interested in participating in our cryptocurrency experiment."
The token is an Ethereum based ERC-20 named "Omar2020 token" and will be rewarded to those who register to volunteer, sign up to the mailing list or host their own campaign event, among other activities.
Reyes is clear that the tokens hold no actual monetary value but rather serve as a means of tracking how much one is helping, and a friendly of competition of sorts, as those with the most tokens at the end of the campaign will be given one of three gifts paid for by the committee.
FEC chair Ellen Weintraub has indicated that the Commission gives its blessing to this endeavor, noting in a draft advisory opinion that these tokens were more like souvenirs than compensation:
"The Commission concludes that the Committee may distribute OMR Tokens to volunteers and supporters as an incentive to engage in volunteer activities as described in the request because OMR Tokens do not constitute compensation; rather, OMR Tokens are materially indistinguishable from traditional forms of campaign souvenirs and nothing in the Act or Commission regulations prohibits a campaign committee from distributing free campaign souvenirs to volunteers or supporters."
It sounds like a fun expperiment for Omar's supporters, but will this type of practice catch on? Stick right here with Chepicap for any updates!