Trump digital trading cards sell out, potentially raising $4.45 million
Ryan King
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Former President Donald Trump appears to have driven a $4.45 million bonanza from his Donald Trump Digital Trading Card collection that earned him derision in some corners of the internet.
All 45,000 nonfungible tokens, commonly known as NFTs, sold out within roughly half a day of launch, according to OpenSea data. At $99 apiece, the digital Trump cards likely amassed about $4.45 million, and the makers of them are set to make additional money from the 10% creator fee on sales in secondary markets.
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“Hello, everyone. This is Donald Trump, hopefully your favorite president of all time, better than Lincoln, better than Washington, with an important announcement to make. I’m doing my first official Donald Trump NFT collection,” Trump said in a promo video for the NFTs.
NFT INT, which orchestrated the digital cards, insists that the money will not be used to back Trump’s 2024 campaign, which was announced last month.
“These Digital Trading Cards are not political and have nothing to do with any political campaign. NFT INT LLC is not owned, managed or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Digital LLC or any of their respective principals or affiliates. NFT INT LLC uses Donald J. Trump’s name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Digital LLC, which license may be terminated,” the company said on a website for the cards.
Notably, earlier in the year, Trump’s wife, former first lady Melania Trump, released an NFT portrait, but subsequent reporting indicated that the same parties that created it were the purchasers of her NFT. It is not immediately clear if the makers of the former president’s recent NFTs engaged in a similar tactic.
Trump touted the NFTs as “incredible artwork pertaining to my life and my career.” Some of the images depicted a superhero iteration of Trump shooting lasers out of his eyes and Trump in an astronaut suit, among other flattering images of him.
Leading up to the release, Trump teased a “MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT,” proclaiming that “AMERICA NEEDS A SUPERHERO.” On the same day of the release, he also laid out a litany of policy proposals to safeguard free speech in the United States.
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Some of his most stalwart supporters, such as Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn, voiced unease about Trump’s NFT release and noted that they would fire whoever advised him to sell them. The move comes amid a downturn in the crypto markets, which uses similar blockchain technology to NFTs, and as polling has shown Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis performing strongly in a hypothetical GOP primary matchup against Trump.
DeSantis has not yet declared for 2024. Purchasers of his NFTs were entered into sweepstakes for a chance to score a meeting with the former president.