Former President Donald Trump’s infamous collection of NFTs, which are digital assets that in this case constituted the former president’s likeness placed into fantastical situations, aren’t worth nearly what he claimed, Newsweek says.
During a deposition taken amid the civil lawsuit against the former president and his business from New York state Attorney General Letitia James, Trump claimed an average value for the NFTs around $1,300. He also claimed simply staggering numbers for the resale prices that some of those holding the NFTs were able to reach, alleging something close to $82,000, though he provided some caveats and said he’d come back with the specific numbers.
“But the numbers he provided during his deposition don’t reflect those on OpenSea, an NFT marketplace where users can buy Trump’s cards,” according to the Newsweek report. “The highest value the former president’s original NFTs ever reached was on average 0.6782 ETH—the native currency of the Ethereum network, called Ether—on February 13, 2023, which equals to about $1,109.” Thus, the claims about both the average and highest prices appear to be flatly disproved.
And Trump has, in fact, made money off the whole venture, in which he partnered with a third party that actually provided the NFTs to users and used his likeness as part of a licensing deal. Financial disclosure forms associated with his 2024 run for office noted at least $100,001 for the former president from that source, though the range in which the income was reported was broad — starting at $100,001 and ending at $1 million, meaning the precise amount could have been anywhere between those two points. The form covered last year.
The cartoonish quality of the depictions actually sold to users suggests someone desperate for financial support, whatever level it eventually reaches. Who would have the idea for selling an image of Trump dressed as a spaceman? The collection was marketed as highlighting accomplishments in Trump’s life. He’s never gone to space. Now, Trump continues to run close with Biden in polls from the 2024 presidential race, in which many expect that the general election contenders from 2020 will face each other again in 2024.
