Donald Trump, the former president of the United States, has launched a new collection of NFTs featuring his mugshot.
His timing is impeccable. As the crypto market looks to be coming out of its long crypto winter, the price of Bitcoin has started to move upwards. Will NFTs also come back from the dead? Trump’s NFT just might be the collection that revives these artefacts of 2021.
Trump Mugshot NFTs
The Trump NFTs, which are digital tokens that represent unique assets on the blockchain, are part of a series he is calling “The Most Historically Significant Artefact in United States History”.
Each NFT costs US$99 (AU$150) and comes with a chance to win a piece of the suit that Trump wore when he was arrested in August 2023.
The launch of the NFTs has sparked mixed reactions from the public and the crypto community.
Some have praised Trump for his entrepreneurial spirit and his willingness to embrace new forms of digital expression. In fact, huge investment house VanEck has predicted that if The Don becomes president in 2024, the Bitcoin price will go bananas as Trump may stop the hostile regulatory environment in the U.S. towards digital assets.
Others have criticised him for his desperation to sell NFTs. He joins a long alumni of celebrities who have sold some seriously sh*tty NFTs collections, which enthusiasts have said were made simply to cash in on the hype.
Trump’s previous collections
There are two series of Trump NFTs on OpenSea: Series 1 and Series 2. These were originally sold out and raised millions of dollars for Trump’s personal coffers. After dipping in price afterwards, the new collection has stirred up interest, and the floor price of the NFT collection is rising again.
However, this surge in price does not necessarily reflect appreciation for Trump’s artistry or personality. Rather, it may be driven by speculation, that is, NFT enthusiasts trying to buy at low prices and sell higher as more publicity is spread about the collection.
Will Trump sell out this collection too?
NFTs are suffering from an image problem right now, with many once-valuable NFTs now being worth next to nothing.
However, with the absolute circus that is an American presidential election fast approaching, this collection may indeed sell out as fervour rises.
There is also the chance that if his NFT sales attempt goes wrong, he could lose money.
For NFT lovers, this may be the signal flare for a new bull run, and NFT trading may fire up again at 2021 volumes.
Or this could all be a publicity storm in a teacup with not a lot of result, and we will all get on with our lives.
