Industry Reacts as Former President Trump Launches NFT Collection 

Jimmy Aki
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump has become the latest notable name to venture into the non-fungible token (NFT) space with his 45,000 custom collection. 

Trump’s New NFT Collection

On Thursday, the immediate past president announced the launch of his NFT collection on his social media platform, Truth Social. According to Trump, the Trump Digital Trading Cards will feature 45,000 NFTs, each selling for $99. 

Each of the NFTs features a custom image of Trump, which the former president claims was inspired by various aspects of his business and political careers. However, many of the NFTs depicts the former president as other characters, including an astronaut, a cowboy, and even a superhero with flames emanating from his eyes.

The NFTs minted on the Polygon blockchain can be purchased with Ethereum (ETH) or fiat currency. The collection’s website claims these cards operate similarly to collectible baseball cards. Customers who go to the website can choose how many trading cards they’d like to purchase as part of the checkout process, with buyers immediately entering into sweepstakes when they purchase these tokens. 

According to the announcement, fans who buy up to 45 NFTs at once can attend a gala dinner with the ex-president. Trump added that the sweepstakes would include thousands of prizes, zoom calls with him, and an opportunity to play golf with him at one of his clubs. 

Money-Making Scheme or Pro-Crypto Development?

The launch of Trump’s NFTs has been a polarizing matter, as the former president is never shy to thrust himself into the spotlight.

However, there have been numerous reactions since the announcement. Many in the former President’s Republican Party have labeled this another publicity stunt from the man trying to maintain his relevance in the party ahead of another run for the White House in 2024. 

Trump had teased the announcement last week on Truth Social, confirming that he had something big coming. Many of the ex-president’s ardent supporters had hoped for a rally or possibly an announcement of his running mate for 2024, but they were disappointed to see that he is now selling trading cards.

On Twitter, conservative media personality Ben Shapiro trolled the former president, while former White House advisor Steve Bannon demanded that whoever came up with the idea be fired.

 

In the crypto space, however, the reactions have primarily been derision. Many have mocked Trump for suddenly changing his tune on crypto, considering that he criticized the industry several times while he was in power and barely did anything to advance its cause.  

Market analyst Eric Wall, one of the industry’s first to report on the NFTs, likened the collection to SimpDAO, an NFT project started by Chinese influencer Irene Zhao in 2021. 

Binance chief executive Changpeng “CZ” Zhao also reacted to the collection launch. Zhao declared that this development marked progress for the market by sharing a screenshot of Trump’s anti-crypto sentiments in 2018 and comparing it with the NFT launch. However, he chose to ignore the politics and focus more on the fact that another former head of state appears to have changed his tune concerning crypto.

 

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, however, wasn’t so convinced. 

About Jimmy Aki PRO INVESTOR

Based in the UK, Jimmy is an economic researcher with outstanding hands-on and heads-on experience in Macroeconomic finance analysis, forecasting and planning. He has honed his skills having worked cross-continental as a finance analyst, which gives him inter-cultural experience. He currently has a strong passion for regulation and macroeconomic trends as it allows him peek under the global bonnet to see how the world works.