FEBRUARY 22ND, 2022
Melania Trump’s attempt to try and sell an NFT – turned out to be one of the Trumpiest things to date.
Yes, the wife of the man who created the fraudulent Trump University scam (that ended with a $25 million settlement) – tries to pull one over on the general public – to give the façade that she’s crushing it in the NFT space.
Back in December, eyebrows were raised when Melania Trump announced that she was entering the world of NFTs with her The Head of State Collection. And, her first NFT outing goes by the non-sociopathic name: “Melania’s Vision.”
And what does Melania’s Vision entail? It’s a watercolor painting of Melania’s eyes. That’s it. I guess the thought process here is – if you buy this NFT, you can always have Melania Trump staring at you. According to Melania’s Twitter account – the NFT also features "an audio recording of Mrs. Trump with a message of hope." Ready to get creeped? You can listen to the audio here. (Transcript: “My vision is: look forward with inspiration, strength, and courage.”)
Excited for this new venture, which combines my passion for art and commitment to helping our Nation’s children fulfill their own unique American Dream. #MelaniaNFT https://t.co/XJN18tMllg pic.twitter.com/wMpmDDsQdp
— MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) December 16, 2021
But we’re not here to make fun of some celebrity’s attempt to cash in some big crypto - on what they might think is some easy Ethereum. No, not in the true spirit of her “Be Best” campaign.
According to blockchain records: The $170,000 used to purchase Melania Trump’s NFT collection was made by a source that originally put the NFT up for sale.
In the true spirit of Web3, public records on the Solana (SOL) blockchain trumpet that the Melania’s Vision NFT auction winner is the same address...that minted the piece.
Yes, the proprietors of The Head of State collection, bought The Head of State collection. Since Solana is a public blockchain, anyone with internet access can follow where NFTs are sold.
Melania’s website discloses that the buyer’s digital address is: 497Zu5gfWSv4VNsoQfjixWXQZmKZ2pDzkVSASDBqnFL2.
According to Motherboard: “The auction winner's address was funded with 1,800 SOL on January 25, which came from an address (let's call it Address X) that was itself funded by the address that created Melania's NFT. After the auction, the NFT creator address sent 180,000 SOL back to Address X which converted it into USDC, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. “
Melania ended up buying an NFT of her very own eyes.
And why is this bad? Well, it's the definition of pump-and-dump - drive up the price of an entity, then try to dump it off before the price falls. So, let's say when Melania’s Vision 2 - drops on the market - there's now the facade that Melania’s Vision 1 - is worth more than it is; driving up the price for future drops.
Again, this is straight from Trump’s playbook: give the façade that you are a self-made billionaire. It's a pure Trump family approach to NFTs - thinking they could just jump into the space and conquer it bigly - much like how 45 conquered the world of blogging; completely oblivious that there’s a public ledger out there that can confirm the transaction scheme. (Too bad inauguration crowd size couldn’t be confirmed on the blockchain.)
I’m just bewildered that the Melania Trump camp didn’t pay millions for their very own NFT - so they could boast: “IT WAS THE BIGGEST AND GREATEST NFT SALE IN HISTORY!”
Yes, put Melania’s Vision in the same stale box as Trump Steak, Trump Vodka, Trump Airlines – and of course the upcoming Trump Truth Social app.
