Melania Trump launched her latest round of NFTs – or non-fungible tokens – on Monday, with a range of digital art commemorating what she called ‘iconic’moments from her time in office.
Selling for $50 apiece, early trade was brisk, with items being snapped up by supporters every six to 10 seconds according to a tally on her website.
‘Happy President’s Day,’ tweeted the former first lady as the 10,000 tokens went on sale.
Buyers received one of five designs, featuring images including the Trumps aboard Air Force One or during a visit to Mount Rushmore.
Some 10,000 tokens were made available in all with buyers unaware of the design they would receive until it landed in their cryptocurrency wallet.
If they all sell, that would bring in a cool half million dollars.
Melania Trump’s latest NFT sale went live on Monday morning with 10,000 pieces of digital going on sale, representing what she said were ‘iconic’ moments in her husband’s presidency
Each NFT sells for $50, and features one of five designs in either gold or platinum
But buyers won’t know which design they are buying until it lands in their crypto currency wallet. They were selling at a rate of one every six to 10 seconds in early trading
The range of NFTs includes the Trump’s visit to Mount Rushmore for the Fourth of July in 2020
The sale marked a new strategy for the first lady, whose most recent activity in the market involved a high-priced auction and questions about who had actually paid for the winning bid.
Cryptocurrency sleuths traced an online wallet 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 latest venture was announced last week.
‘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.
‘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 uses the Solana blockchain protocol, with right-wing social network Parler ‘powering the platform,’ it said.
The former first lady 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.
The former first lady entered the NFT market with her first offering in December
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.