A South Korean presidential candidate is turning to NFTs to raise campaign funds for the country's election in March

• South Korean presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung is turning to NFTs to raise campaign funds, according to Yonhap News Agency.
• Lee's party will issue NFTs bearing his image and his policies in exchange for monetary contributions.
• If successful, Lee will be the world's first presidential aspirant to issue NFTs for campaign finances, his team said.
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South Korean presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung is turning to the red-hot market for non-fungible tokens to raise campaign funds for the upcoming election in March, Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday.

Lee's party, the ruling Democratic Party, will issue NFTs bearing his image and his policies in exchange for monetary contributions, according to his campaign team.

If the digital asset fundraising is successful, Lee will be the world's first presidential aspirant to issue NFTs for campaign finances, his team added.

The innovative effort is meant to lure younger voters who are involved in the cryptocurrency space. 

The move marks the party's efforts to explore new ways of integrating digital assets into the old-school models of election campaign fundraising. 

"As the young generation in their 20s and 30s are interested in emerging technologies, including virtual assets, NFTs and the metaverse, this type of fundraising could appeal to them," Kim Nam-kook, campaign committee official, told Yonhap News Agency.

Another lawmaker in the same party, Lee Kwang-jae, recently revealed he will start accepting cryptocurrency donations this month and issue receipts in the form of NFTs, according to a report by The Korea Times.

NFTs -- digital representations of artwork, sports cards, or other collectibles -- surged in popularity in 2021 and ballooned to a $41 billion market as major investors worldwide from Hollywood to Wall Street jumped in on the craze.