Donald Trump’s trading cards have lost so much value in one week

Donald Trump’s digital trading card has lost 72 percent of its value in the past week after prices first rose online, according to figures from website OpenSea, which tracks sales of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

On December 15, the former president put 45,000 of the cards up for sale, selling for $99 each. After Trump promoted the “one-of-a-kind” assets online, all the cards sold out within hours.

Each card features Trump as one of a variety of heroic characters, including a superhero, astronaut, sheriff and NASCAR driver.

After selling out many of the cards were re-traded and the value increased, reaching a peak of 0.82 Ethereum, or $999, last Saturday, December 17, according to OpenSea.

Over the past week, their value has fallen by 72 percent, according to the site, with each card now worth 0.23 Ethereum, or $280, as of 8:38 a.m. ET on Dec. 24.

Overall, each card has continued to gain significant value since they were first sold, with their cost increasing by 182 percent since they were made available.

The number of sales of Trump’s digital trading cards on the OpenSea website per day has also decreased, from a high of 6,661 on December 17, to just 529 on December 22 and 260 on December 23.

NFTs are pieces of virtual art whose ownership is recorded in the blockchain, a mass peer-to-peer network of computers, which uses the same technology as cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum.

Earlier this month, Trump announced he would make a “big announcement” via his Truth Social website, which many commentators assumed would be linked to his 2024 presidential bid.

Some prominent Trump supporters were angered when the announcement turned out to be digital trading cards, which the former president described as “very much like a baseball card, but hopefully a lot more exciting.”

Right-wing commentator Steve Bannon, formerly Trump’s chief White House strategist, responded on his podcast, saying “I can’t do this anymore,” before saying whoever thought up the cards “should be fired today.”

The cards also sparked mockery online, with politics professor Eddie Zipperer asking if they were “some kind of meme making fun of Trump.”

On Friday, Trump said he decided to release the trading cards because he simply “loved the art.”

Speaking to conservative network OAN about the NFTs, the former president said: “Well, I didn’t know anything about them and then a group came and I loved the art. They showed me the art.

“You know, it’s kind of comic book art when you think about it, but they showed me the art and I said, wow, I’ve always wanted to have a 30-inch waist.”

On December 22, the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on Congress, and related attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, issued its final report.

It concluded that Trump was the “central cause” of the storming of Capital Hill by hundreds of his supporters on January 6, 2021.

Trump has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, insisting he asked his supporters to be “peaceful” on the day. The committee has referred Trump for prosecution to the Justice Department on four counts, although this is not legally binding.

Newsweek has reached out to a Trump spokesperson for comment.