Kim Nam-guk also targeted by NFT... 'Dolgeurim' once sold for 1.5 billion won

NFT 'Golden Age' from 2021 to Last Year
Growing Political Interest... Fundraising via NFT
Daily Trading Volume Once Nearing Trillions
Shrank 99% After Inflation Surge and Interest Rate Hikes

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-guk's involvement in planning the 'Lee Jae-myung Fund,' based on non-fungible token (NFT) technology to raise campaign funds for then-Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung in February last year, when he held the cryptocurrency 'Wemix Coin,' has been highlighted again.

The Democratic Party stated that Kim's involvement does not constitute a conflict of interest, drawing a line, while also pointing out that the People Power Party had also used NFTs to raise campaign funds at the time.

In fact, NFTs reached their peak between 2021 and early last year. Not only famous artists but also ordinary people created and sold NFT products, and even a picture of a plain stone was sold for a large sum.

NFTs Used for Political Fundraising

An NFT containing the New Year's message from Lee Jae-myung, then the Democratic Party presidential candidate last year. [Image source=Democratic Party]

On the morning of the 11th, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Han-gyu appeared on YTN Radio's 'News King with Park Ji-hoon' and commented on Kim Nam-guk's participation in the 'Lee Jae-myung Fund,' saying, "It seems to have gone too far. At the time, candidate Yoon Seok-youl also held NFT-related events, and the social atmosphere was like that," adding, "We need to examine whether this directly constitutes a conflict of interest."

The Lee Jae-myung Fund was launched on February 9 last year. It was intended to raise election expenses for Lee Jae-myung, who was then a presidential candidate. The target amount of 35 billion won was reached within 1 hour and 49 minutes of the public offering. It was reported to have attracted considerable interest, especially among the 20s and 30s age group.

It was the first political fundraising fund to attract attention by using NFT technology. After accessing the website and applying for the fund, once the pledged amount was deposited, a set of NFT images containing a promissory note was sent to the individual's digital wallet. Earlier, in December 2021, President Yoon Seok-youl issued an NFT of a guestbook containing his handwritten signature at the 'Korea Startup Forum' event.

Granting Irreplaceable Authentic Certificates to Increase Scarcity

Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, tokenized his first tweet as an NFT and auctioned it off, selling it for 3.5 billion KRW.
[Image source=Twitter]

NFTs experienced a boom from 2021 until last year. The political sector's use of NFTs for fundraising also seems to reflect interest in a market that was setting record highs at the time.

NFT refers to the use of blockchain technology to grant an 'irreplaceable certificate of authenticity' to image files or similar items. Each certificate holds the same value, cannot be duplicated, but can be exchanged with others. This characteristic naturally increases scarcity, and when combined with the art market, it was expected to generate high synergy.

The field where NFTs were most actively adopted was art auctions. Not only artworks but also famous internet memes became subjects of NFTization. Jack Dorsey, the founder of the global social networking service Twitter, turned his first tweet into an NFT and sold it for $2.09 million (approximately 3.5 billion won at the time).

'Stone Picture' Sold for 1.5 Billion Won Sparks Bubble Controversy... Catastrophe During Interest Rate Hikes

An Ether Rock NFT dried and sold for 1.5 billion KRW per piece. This case dramatically demonstrated the popularity of NFTs and sparked bubble controversy.
[Image source=Twitter]

As NFT popularity peaked, bubble controversies erupted. The NFT 'EtherRock,' based on the cryptocurrency 'Ethereum,' was sold for 1.5 billion won per piece.

EtherRock was a picture of a plain stone, and although it was certainly an NFT, the problem was that aside from being tradable, it had no intrinsic value. A market opened where digital files with no measurable value were traded at high prices simply because they were NFTs.

Ultimately, the NFT market sharply corrected as investment sentiment shrank due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the visible inflation crisis, and subsequent interest rate hikes by central banks worldwide. For example, Jack Dorsey's 'first tweet' NFT, which was sold, plummeted to 4 million won in April last year, just one year after the sale.

The world's largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, peaked at a total transaction volume of $2.7 billion on May 1 last year, then shrank by a staggering 99% to $9.34 million in just over three months.