Melania Trump to launch NEW collection of NFTs with her husband’s ‘iconic’ moments in office for President’s Day
- The former first lady announced the POTUS NFT Collection on Thursday
- It includes 10,000 items commemorating moments in her husband’s presidency
- Each will be priced at $50 and go on sale on February 21, President’s Day
- It follows controversy surrounding the sale of a $170,000 NFT next month
- Cryptocurrency sleuths said an online payment trail suggested Trump or the creators of the project paid for the item themselves
Melania Trump is launching another range of digital art in the form of NFTs – or non-fungible tokens – this time commemorating what she called ‘iconic’ moments from her husband’s time in office.
The former first lady announced the release of the ‘POTUS NFT Collection’ on Thursday.
It comes soon after cryptocurrency sleuths raised questions about her most recent auction.
They traced cryptocurrency used to pay for a $270,000 lot that included artwork and a hat worn by the first lady to an address used to sell the items – suggesting either Trump or the project’s creator paid for the bid.
The new range will commemorate moments such as former President Donald Trump’s Fourth of July visit to Mount Rushmore in 2020, Christmas at the White House and Air Force One.
Some 10,000 items, featuring 10 different designs, will be put on sale for $50 each. That will bring in a cool half a million dollars if they all sell.
The new range of NFTs will include Trump’s visit to Mount Rushmore for the Fourth of July in 2020. They will sell for $50 apiece but buyers won’t know what they look like in advance
The former first lady entered the NFT market with her first offering in December
But buyers won’t be able to see what they are getting until it is revealed after purchase.
‘I am proud to expand upon my NFT platform and am honored to be able to recognize important moments in our nation’s history,’ said Trump in a statement.
‘I look forward to collaborating with others to offer truly special, authentic parts of U.S. history.’
Trump provided ‘creative direction for the collection, according to a statement from her office.
The collection will use the Solana blockchain protocol, with right-wing social network Parler ‘powering the platform,’ it said.
It will be released on February 21, President’s Day.
The former first lady’s entered the world of NFTs in December last year.
She launched a website and a slate of auctions selling pieces of digital content, linked to the Blockchain, identifying the buyer as the owner of a piece of art.
Last month, her website revealed that a bid worth about $170,000 had won her first offering in the Head of State Collection, 2022 – a package that included a hat worn during the state visit of the French president to the White House in 2018, a watercolor of her wearing it and an NFT of the painting.
It was bought with 1800 SOL – a type of cryptocurrency. And a plunge in its price meant that the sale came in about $80,000 short of the goal.
Last month former First Lady Melania Trump auctioned off a hat she wore during the state visit of President Emmanuel Macron Of France and his wife Brigitte (seen her with Trump) in 2018, along with an NFT and a watercolor. It sold for 1800 SOL or about $170,000
However, internet sleuths traced the winning bidder’s payment and found that it was funded with cryptocurrency that came from a wallet owned by the seller
Trump’s website published the address of the wallet that came up with winning bid, allowing internet experts to use the transparency of Blockchain transactions to trace where the payment came from.
Analysis first published by MotherBoard found that the address that made the bid had earlier been funded to the tune of 1800 SOL from another address, which in turn was funded by an address that linked back to the creator of the NFT.
After the auction, the NFT creator then sent 1800 SOL back to the intermediary.
‘In other words, the winner of Melania Trump’s NFT got the money from none other than the creator of the NFT itself, and an address linked to the NFT creator got the money back,’ it concluded.
Trump’s office said the arrangement was made for an outside buyer.
‘The nature of Blockchain protocol is entirely transparent,’ her office said in a statement.
‘Accordingly, the public can view each transaction on the Blockchain. The transaction was facilitated on behalf of a third-party buyer.’
One reason might be that the buyer is not a cryptocurrency user and instead paid with dollars which then needed to be converted into SOL.
Another explanation might be that it was an attempt to shore up the price when there was little interest.