Donald Trump’s first NFT collection sells out in less than a day

The first NFT collection from former President Donald Trump sold out less than a day after it went on sale, netting its creators nearly $4.5 million.

The businessman-turned-politician rolled out the “Trump Digital Trading Card” on Thursday in a much-hyped announcement. The video opens with an animated image of Trump dressed in a superhero outfit shooting laser beams out of his eyes. The cartoonish graphic is followed by the real Trump.

“This is Donald Trump, hopefully your favorite president of all time, better than Lincoln, better than Washington,” Trump, who recently declared himself a presidential candidate in 2024, the video says.

Trump-themed shoppers non-fungible tokens gain ownership of a specific digital copy of the image. But as with most digital art, the images are easily copied and can be viewed by anyone, not just NFT’s buyer.

The $99 NFTs, which Trump describes as “about my life and career,” digitally represent the former president as an astronaut, race car driver, cowboy and superhero. Some designs are unique, while others come in editions of up to 20, according to collectTrumpCards.com, the website that lists the tokens.

“Each card comes with an automatic chance to win amazing prizes like dinner with me,” the former president says in the promotional video, adding, “I don’t know if it’s an amazing prize, but that’s what we have.”

Other prizes offered include a phone or Zoom call with Trump, golf outing and cocktail hour at Mar-a-Lago and dinner in Miami, according to CollectTrumpCards.com. Buying at least 45 NFTs also entitles a “guaranteed ticket to attend the gala dinner with Trump in South Florida,” the site said.

The 45,000 NFTs were sold out by Friday morning, according to the site. At $99 apiece, earnings come to $4.46 million. The cards are now trading on OpenSea, an NFT marketplace, for prices starting at $1,200. The creator of the collectibles, artist Clark Mitchell, will receive 10% of any subsequent sales.

It is not clear whether the former president will profit financially from the sale. The cards are owned by a company called NFT INT LLC, whose mailing address is traced to a UPS store in Park City, Utah.

CollectTrumpCards.com notes that the NFTs are not connected to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

“These digital trading cards are not political and have nothing to do with any political campaign. NFT INT LLC is owned, managed or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Digital LLC or any of their respective principals or affiliates,” according to the website.

The NFT collection surprised many, and was even mocked by some Trump supporters.”I can’t do this anymore,” former Trump adviser Steve Bannon so on his show, “The War Room.” The aides and PR people who encouraged the NFT gathering “should be fired today,” he said.

Anthime Gionet, a far-right personality known as “Baked Alaska” who is facing sentencing for her role in the January 6 attack on the US capitol, tweeted: “I can’t believe I’m going to jail for an nft seller. .”

“I wanted to make America great again but all I got was this sh—- nft,” he said in another tweet. Gionet was banned from Twitter five years ago for “hateful behavior” but recently had his account reinstated.