THE advancement of blockchain technology and increasing maturity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has opened up a whole new world of possibilities – especially in realm of political fund raising.
Yesterday (Aug 1), Damansara MP Tony Pua has celebrated his 50th birthday by leveraging the NFT concept to raise funds for DAP’s forthcoming 15th General Election campaign.
The now policy adviser to DAP’s secretary-general (Anthony) Loke Siew Fook officially presented his 121cm by 152cm “Langkah Sheraton” oil painting to the party to enable the latter to raise precious funds to campaign in the upcoming GE15.
DAP which is hoping to raise RM1 mil to fuel its campaign has subsequently put up a whopping 8,888 images related to the controversial “Sheraton Move” that triggered the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan Government for sale. Each NFT will represent one of 8,888 share of the physical painting.
For the record, Pua had in February 2021 contributed the painting to DAP’s Theatre Impian project to honour and celebrate the party’s supremo Lim Kit Siang’s 80th birthday.
Conceived as a visual arts gallery, Theatre Impian houses some 100 unique artworks by 80 Malaysian artists which depict Kit Siang’s struggles, sacrifice and success in the pursuit of the ‘Malaysian Dream”.
“It took me a fairly long time to figure out the best approach to ‘sell’ the painting to raise funds for the party,” revealed Pua.
“A typical sale would often see a painting stored in a collector’s private gallery or storeroom, while no government-owned gallery would acquire such a ‘sensitive’ or controversial piece, even if it was of historical import.”
He added: “However, the advancement of blockchain technology and increasing maturity of NFTs have opened up a whole new world of possibilities. The painting can now be acquired not just by one person but instead be meaningfully owned, collectively among thousands of Malaysians.”
Indeed the rapidly developing NFT platforms could also unlock a higher value, and hence raise more funds for the party and the cause.
“The “Langkah Sheraton” NFT is unlike most NFT art in the market today which is entirely digital, and somewhat throttled by excessive supply,” envisages Pua.
“Instead, the “Langkah Sheraton” NFT is backed by ownership of a physical, rare and critically-acclaimed oil painting of immense historical value which will last for generations to come.” – Aug 2, 2022
