Donald Trump, photographed for Forbes in September 2017.
With his approval ratings at their lowest since 2015, Donald Trump announced a series of $99 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Thursday linked to a collection of digital art portraying the former president in a number of flattering ways—if you can go by the images on the collecttrumpcards.com website, which might or might not be part of the collection. There is also a chance to win “1000’s of prizes” including a guaranteed dinner with the Donald if you pony up for 45 cards, though it is not clear how many other people will attend.
That the website illustrations are not necessarily part of the 45,000-strong NFT offering does not really matter because you are buying blind. Each $99 will result in a randomly generated trading card, some of which will be unique. Others will be created in multiples of 2, 5, 7, 10, or 20 copies. There is a limit of 100 per purchaser or household. Each card provides a sweepstake entry for what appear to be uniformly Trumpcentric prizes. Those interested can enter the sweepstakes without buying NFTs.
Then there is the fine print:
•The NFTs do not correspond to ownership of the images. Buyers get a limited license to use, publish and display the art with various restrictions that include a ban on commercial applications.
•Buyers will need self-custody digital wallets to receive the NFTs, though they can be purchased with just an email address.
•The cards can be transferred, but there is a 10% resale royalty.
Although he made a video to support the sale, Trump himself is not directly behind it. A company called NFT INT has licensed the former president’s name and image from an entity called CIC Digital.
NFT did not respond to an email seeking more information.
The only intrinsic value the cards seem to offer is the availability of the images for noncommercial viewing. In a frequently asked question section (FAQ), the website specifies that what makes them special is that they are the first authorized Trump trading cards. Funds collected will not be used for Trump’s expected re-election campaign, according to the FAQs.
The images were created by Clark Mitchell, a commercial artist, and the cards are minted on the Polygon MATIC blockchain, according to the FAQs..
