Donald Trump Announces $99 Digital Trading Card NFTs
Former President Donald Trump released a collection of 45,000 fantasy non-fungible tokens (NFTs), he announced Thursday via Truth Social, the social media site he founded last year.
According to the collection’s website, the Trump Digital Trading Cards feature images of the president in a style similar to collectible baseball cards. The tokens, minted on Polygon, cost $99 and can be purchased with ether (ETH) or in fiat currency.
At the end of the checkout process, customers are asked to select how many Trump Trading Cards they would like to purchase. The pop-up promotes a guaranteed ticket to a gala dinner with Trump for the purchase of 45 NFTs at once, as shown in the screenshot below. This will cost a customer $4455.
Collectors who purchase one of the digital trading cards will automatically be entered into a “contest” to receive experiences with Trump, including a Zoom call, a dinner in Miami or a cocktail hour at Mar-a-Lago. The trading cards will have rarities ranging from one-of-one to “2, 5, 7 or 10 copies. No Trump Digital Trading Card will have more than 20 copies in existence,” according to the website.
Although Trump said he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrency in July 2019, he seemed enthusiastic about promoting his new collection. “GET YOUR CARDS NOW! Only $99 each! Would make a great Christmas gift. Don’t wait. They will be gone, I think, very quickly!” he wrote in a post on his platform.
The site also features a promotional video from Trump, in which he declares “Each card comes with an automatic chance to win amazing prizes like dinner with me. I don’t know if it’s an amazing prize, but that’s what we have.”
The project first drew criticism on Twitter, with some labeling the collection a “scam”. Others noted earlier reports about his questionable 2020 campaign fundraising efforts and allegations of shady spending.
Shares in Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that struck a proposed merger deal with Trump’s social media company, fell about 7% after the announcement.
While this is President Trump’s first official NFT project, former first lady, Melania Trump, launched her debut NFT collection “Cobalt Blue Eyes” almost exactly a year ago.
Collect Trump Cards, the website behind the project, did not respond to CoinDesk for comment at the time of publication.
UPDATE (Dec 15 19:15 UTC): Added further details on rarity levels, purchase experience and video.
