Trump calls crypto ‘dangerous’ resurfaces after massive NFT selloff

Former President Donald Trump made what he called a “big announcement” on Thursday, with what turned out to be the launch of $99 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that featured fictionalized artwork of himself.

News of the NFTs has led to some criticism of Trump on Twitter, including by several users of the social media platform who have referenced an interview from last December of Trump calling cryptocurrency “dangerous.”

Although NFTs cannot be exchanged or traded like cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, tokens are still considered cryptographic assets since they are created using the same type of blockchain technology programming. In recent years, the market for NFTs has expanded greatly, with digital artworks becoming one of the most popular forms of tokens.

Among the depictions in the Trump NFTs are images of the former president recreated as a cowboy, an astronaut, a fighter pilot and a superhero in a wrestling ring.

In the video announcement of the NFTs, Trump said he was “better” than former presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, adding that his “digital trading card collection” can be purchased with a credit card or cryptocurrency.

Trump apparently hasn’t always been so keen on crypto. Speaking on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo last year, he indicated that he was not a fan of the digital currency and even offered a warning about it.

“I never loved it [cryptocurrency], because I like to have the dollar. I think the currency should be dollars. So it was never a big fan, but it’s building up bigger and bigger and nobody’s doing anything about it,” Trump said. “I know that very well. I want a currency called dollars. I don’t want all these others, and it could be an explosion one day, the likes of which we’ve never seen. It will make the big technology explosion look like baby stuff. I think it’s a very dangerous thing.”

Several Twitter users have referenced Trump’s conversation with Bartiromo since his NFT launch. Altcoin Daily, a cryptocurrency news and analysis outlet that has a popular YouTube channel, posted a clip of the Fox News interview, along with Trump’s NFT video announcement.

“Donald Trumps in 2021: Crypto is dangerous. It could be an explosion like we’ve never seen before. Donald Trump in 2022: I’m doing my first official NFT collection,” wrote Altcoin Daily as the caption for its tweet.

Newsweek contacted Trump for comment.