Who Is Buying Donald Trump NFTs?

Who’s Buying Donald Trump’s NFTs? 

In early-December 2022, Donald Trump had his followers on Truth Social speculating about the details of an upcoming “major announcement”. Many of his followers assumed that his announcement would contain details of his 2024 presidential campaign. These speculations were far from the actual announcement that Trump made, which surrounded Trump's entry into the hotly contested NFT market.

What are Trump’s NFTs? 

Trump NFTs  (non-fungible tokens) were revealed on December 15th, 2022. Each NFT included Trump dressed in different attires including a fighter pilot, an astronaut, and a superhero, and were originally sold for $99USD. 

It’s important to note that the word “NFT” was never used in Trump’s announcement, or on the website. The phrase “Digital Trading Cards” was used instead, most likely to separate any association with NFTs despite the trading cards being NFTs. 

Why Did Trump Start Selling NFTs? 

When Trump announced the digital trading cards, there was speculation surrounding where the profits for these NFTs would go. Many assumed this tactic would be a secretive way of funding Trump’s 2024 campaign. However, the trading card website uses a disclaimer to distance the NFT collection from political campaigns. 

As well, while Trump had involvement in the development and creation of his NFT collection though the NFTs were not being sold through a company that Trump owns. His name was licensed to a company called NFT INT LLC. 

While Trump may not make direct profits from these NFT sales, and those profits may not be passed onto his campaign. However, licensing his name will. 

Who is Profiting From Trump’s NFTs? 

Sales from Trump’s NFT go to NFT INT LLC, and for every card sold, the company pockets 10 percent. One of the most popular NFT marketplaces, Open Sea there has been 600+ ETH worth of trading for Trump’s card, which is roughly around 845,000 USD. This means that NFT INC LLC has already made around 84,500 USD from the trading, which looks like it is going to continue to rise. 

Still, Trump’s Digital Trading Card sold out within 12 hours, something the NFT market has not seen in a while. 

Who is Buying Trump’s NFTs?

Trump’s Digital Trading Cards were sold out within 12 hours of their release. This is not something that has happened in the NFT market recently, posing the question: who is buying these NFTs? 

The target market for Trump’s NFTs are his supporters. With each NFT that was purchased, the buyer was entered into a draw to win exclusive prizes. These prizes included a Zoom call with the former president, an invitation to a gala that Trump would be attending, and more. 

Trump’s supporters were most likely uninterested about owning a digital trading card, and more interested in the prizes being offered. 

This has caused some tension in the wider NFT community. Some have noted that Trump is bringing more attention to the NFT community than there has been recently. However it is unlikely that the attention will stay on NFTs after the prizes have been given out. 

Conclusion

Trump’s Digital Trading Cards (read: NFTs) hold value currently, whether or not they'll continue to hold value in a couple of months is another story. Very few NFTs have continued to hold adequate value for long periods after being released, though it is still possible that Trump’s NFTs will. After all, following this launch, it's clear that nothing is impossible. 

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