The 45,000 NFTs taken out by former President Donald Trump have become a sensation. The digital cards, as he described them, were all sold in just 24 hours.
Those who were quick to judge him harshly, even to the point of mocking him for this action, because among other things he made them available at a bad time, with the attention on the FTX scandal, saw their assessments solemnly disproved.
In the secondary market, on OpenSea, it is now the collection with the highest trading volume, leaving the “bored monkeys” (Board Cape Yacht Club) in second place. Trump’s cheapest NFT is for sale at twice the price it was originally acquired. Recall that the sale price was $99. Some pieces are already changing hands at prices in the tens of thousands of dollars.
What was unique about these digital items that caused a buying frenzy? They were in limited editions, from 2 to 20 each, and depicted him in various forms. Superhero, astronaut, cowboy, and other attributes! In addition, the owner of a Trump-NFT gets the right to enter a drawing process, through which they can win a one-on-one meeting with the former President himself.
This is not to say that only Trump supporters or admirers rushed to buy NFTs. Some realized it was a speculative opportunity and rushed to take advantage of it.
But did Trump fall for it because he could set the initial price higher and ended up collecting less than he really could? Perhaps, though of this we are not at all sure. You see he has stipulated that on every purchase of any NFT in his collection from now on, he will receive an extra 10% fee. This fee is for the creator’s royalties.
In other words, he may have received $99 in the beginning, but if an NFT sells for $1,000, he will receive another $100! If it is later resold for $2,000, then he will collect another $200. This process is automatic and is provided for all NFTs.
However, there have been quite a few complaints. Apart from some technical problems, buyers started to complain about the terms in the… fine print. The promise of a “dinner with Trump” was actually a dinner fundraiser. Zoom with Trump, involved a group call. Although that’s not certain either. In a footnote in the terms and conditions, it states that they are subject to validation and eligibility verification.
