Published on: 26/12/2022
Donald Trump’s NFTs drop by 72% in value less than two weeks after launch
Donald Trump’s NFT trading card collection has taken quite a significant nosedive in value, dropping by 72 percent within seven days after being sold for $99 each.
Each card depicts Trump as various heroic characters, ranging from a superhero, astronaut, sheriff and NASCAR driver. During the announcement of his NFTs, Trump said on Truth Social that they would make a good Christmas gift and would sell quickly.
“Would make a great Christmas gift. Don’t Wait. They will be gone, I believe, very quickly.”
Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States
According to OpenSea, Trump’s NFT prices skyrocketed to nearly 350 percent before declining in the past few days. Based on the data provided by CryptoSlam, the NFTs reached their all-time high on December 17, hitting the $3.5 million mark. Initially, they managed to sell 6,661 cards from 45,000 on December 17. On December 22, there were 529 cards sold, and 260 cards were sold on December 23.
Their trading volume decreased by 57 percent on Monday, reaching around $836,000 in ETH, with an average sale price dropping close to $466. As of December 24, each NFT card is only worth 0.23 ETH or $280. However, the initial investors who bought them at $99 when they were first released would still receive a profit margin of 182 percent.
According to the statement from the former U.S. president’s Digital Trading Card website, these cards are not political. They will not use the money earned from the NFT sales for his 2024 presidential campaign. Insider’s Kayla Gallagher reported that there had been no mention of Trump receiving any money from his NFT sales.
After selling his NFT cards within 12 hours, Trump said they were more about art than profits.
“I didn’t view it as investment. I viewed it as – I thought they were cute. For $99, you’re getting these visions that are very beautiful and interesting, I think, and I viewed it that way much more so than as an NFT,” the former president said.
Criticism from Trump’s supporters
Trump’s NFT digital cards have been drawing criticism, including from some of his most prominent supporters. Many of them said they would rather have him focus on politics with his 2024 reelection campaign.
On the War Room podcast, Trump’s former aid and host Steve Bannon, alongside right-wing commentators Sebastian Gorka and Steve Cortes, said the 76-year-old business mogul should not have been involved with the NFTs at all.
Trump’s former national security advisor Michael Flynn also shared the same criticism when he appeared on the Prophets and Patriots radio show last Thursday. Flynn said he would have fired anyone who advised Trump to launch these NFTs. Jesse Kelly from the Jesse Kelly Show also said conservatives should have demanded improvement and that they needed “a better Trump.”
“Trump’s speech on censorship was awesome but unfortunately overshadowed by the ridiculously tacky NFT announcement. It’s like he can’t help himself in making these unforced errors,” Cardillo said on Twitter back on December 15.
Per a report by David Gilbert from Vice, supporters of the American political conspiracy movement QAnon said Trump’s NFT cards were just a foolish attempt at a cash grab. A QAnon influencer even said the NFTs were tone-deaf to most of Trump’s fans.
In a video posted on Twitter on Saturday, Trump said to conservative network OAN that he had not been informed about the NFTs before the sales earned over $1 million.
“Well, I knew nothing about them and then a group came and I loved the art. They showed me the art,” Trump said.
