It's been reported that Donald Trump was able to earn almost $4.45 million from his digital trading card collection, which had been criticized by some online.
According to OpenSea data, all of the 45,000 non-fungible tokens sold out within just a day following the launch. It's believed that the cards sold for around $99 each. The creators of these cards are expected to make a profit from the 10% fee that they collect from sales in secondary markets.
In a promo video for the NFTs, "Donald Trump said that he would be releasing his first official trading card collection. He referred to himself as the favorite president of all time."
NFT INT, the company that organized the digital trading cards, stated that the funds will not be used to support Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
The company behind the cards claimed that they are not associated with the Trump Organization, The Trump Campaign, or any of their affiliates. It also stated that it has a paid license from a company known as CIC Digital LLC, which allows it to use the president's image and name.
In April, former first lady Melania Trump released an NFT portrait of herself. However, it was later revealed that the same people who created it were the ones who bought the former first lady's NFT. It's not clear if the people behind the former president's NFTs also used this strategy.
Trump claimed that the NFTs were incredibly well-designed and were based on his life and career. Some of the images featured various elements of the former president, such as an astronaut suit and a superhero version of him.
Before the release of the NFTs, Trump teased a "MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT." He also released a slew of policy proposals that sought to protect free speech in the country.
Some of Trump's most prominent supporters, such as Michael Flynn and Steve Bannon, criticized the president's decision to release the NFTs. They noted that they would fire the people who advised him on how to sell them. The move came amid a decline in the crypto markets, and as polling has shown that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis could be a potential challenger to Trump in the primary.
The purchasers of DeSantis' NFTs were entered into a sweepstakes to win a chance to meet the former president.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Washington Examiner.
