Donald Trump teased a “major announcement” just weeks after declaring a third presidential run, leading political-watchers to speculate about big campaign moves. Instead, he’s hawking digital trading cards with depictions such as his head atop cartoon super-hero figures in an NFT market that’s already sagging.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the “Donald Trump Digital Trading Card collection,” can be collected like baseball cards and stored digitally. They cost $99 each and people who buy them are also entered into a sweepstakes for prizes including a golf outing with the former Republican president.
The digital cards are being offered by NFT INT LLC, which says on its website that the cards are not connected to Trump’s presidential campaign and that the company is not owned, managed or controlled by Trump, his company, or their affiliates. Trump gets paid under a license for use of his name and likeness, according to the website.
The market for NFTs has fallen sharply in recent months along with the rest of the crypto universe, which has endured a series of spectacular blowups including the November implosion of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX digital-asset empire. In November, monthly trading volume on the world’s biggest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, was the lowest since June of 2021, according to tracker Dune.
Some of the most popular NFT collections, such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, have experienced steep price drops. Since peaking in April, Bored Ape’s floor price — the lowest price someone would pay for an NFT from the collection — fell from about $408,000 to about $82,000 recently, according to tracker NFT Price Floor.
Trump had teased the announcement with a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday depicting himself as a Superman-like character standing in front of Trump Tower with lasers shooting from his eyes saying, “America needs a superhero.” In crypto parlance, laser eyes are a bullish signal and that picture is now one of the available digital cards.
The move comes a month after Trump’s Nov. 15 announcement that he’s waging a 2024 White House bid. There was speculation that the “major announcement” would be something dramatic like Trump returning to Twitter or running to be House speaker.
Trump’s comeback run has so far been marked by one downturn after another, including being blamed for a disappointing Republican midterm showing, the growing popularity in the GOP and among voters of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the public dinner he held with two well-known antisemites, deepening legal woes, subpar online fundraising and polls showing him losing favor among his base.
President Joe Biden took a jab at Trump on Twitter, noting that he, too, had had some “MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS,” over the last couple of weeks, including signing the Respect for Marriage Act and securing the release of basketball star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison.
Shortly after his NFT announcement, Trump posted a video on his Truth Social site to outline what he described as a platform to “reclaim” the right of free speech should he retake the White House in 2024.
--With assistance from Beth Williams and Olga Kharif.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.