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Former president Donald Trump, a self-declared pro-crypto candidate, intends to enter the NFT arena yet again. In an interview with Bloomberg, the Republican presidential nominee said that a fourth Trump-themed NFT collection is on the way.
An NFT (non-fungible token) refers to a unique digital asset that can take the form of art, music, in-game items, videos, and other types of digital content stored on a blockchain network and traded using cryptocurrency as a means of exchange.
In 2021, when NFTs were booming, Trump jumped into the NFT market for the first time. Despite being a crypto-skeptic then, Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, launched NFT collections featuring Melania’s “cobalt blue eyes.” In 2023, he launched his latest NFT collection — “MugShot,” focusing on the theme of his ongoing criminal indictments.
Trump told Bloomberg that he sold out of his previous collections in a day. “The whole thing sold out: 45,000 cards.” And I did it three times [and] I’m going to do another one, because the people want me to do another one. It’s unbelievable spirit. Beautiful.”
Once a crypto skeptic who denounced Bitcoin as a “scam against the U.S. dollar,” Trump asserted the importance of U.S. leadership in cryptocurrency in the Bloomberg interview. He vaguely warned that if the U.S. misses the opportunity, then China will take the lead.
Crypto is “an infant right now,” the former president told Bloomberg. “But I don’t want to be responsible for allowing another country to take over this sphere,” he added.
Several crypto companies are donating to Trump’s campaign
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s election campaign raised $331 million last quarter, of which $3 million was in crypto. Amid a shift in Trump’s stance on crypto, major crypto companies and crypto advocates such as Elon Musk, Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, and others have donated to the Trump campaign.
PredictIt, an online betting site, raised the odds of Trump’s election win from 60 cents on Friday to 67 cents, while Joe Biden’s odds were at 27 cents. In addition, Trump’s odds of winning the presidential election rose further on Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market, after he announced J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), a pro-crypto senator, as his choice for running mate.