Trump NFTs: A New Era of Political Fundraising?

Donald Trump NFTs created a buzz at the intersection of politics and digital collectibles, effectively launching a new political fundraising era.

Over a year ago, you weren't cool if you didn’t own an NFT. Unfortunately, when the crypto winter began towards the middle of 2022, only real degens persisted with the 'NFT craze'.

People just trying out NFTs due to FOMO or simply being fascinated by the concept forgot about non-fungible tokens and rolled back to their various status quo.

In the same vein, some projects packed their bags. Interestingly, amidst the chaos of the blockchain industry, former US President Donald Trump launched his brand new non-fungible token (NFT) trading cards on 15 December, 2022.

Before now, we have seen NFTs find use cases in different industries, but this was the first of its kind in politics. This begs the question of whether the Trump NFTs are the start of a new era of political fundraising or a fad.

A closer look at the Trump NFTs

The first batch of the NFTs cost just $99 per unit, and according to a statement by Trump, the NFTs are "amazing artworks from my life and career".

The special edition cards resemble baseball cards. Some potential perks of owning the card may include spending a "wonderful evening in Miami for a special dinner organized by Trump" or simply meeting with Donald Trump for an hour of golf.

As expected, the launch of the new NFTs raised speculation, especially based on the circumstances surrounding the digital presence of the 45th American President. What made the NFT project stand out is that it was a political fundraising measure.

The idea behind the Trump NFTs is to be a means to raise money for the former President’s 2024 re-election bid. So, 45,000 units of the first batch of the NFTs were designed by illustrator Clark Mitchell, and all are issued on the Polygon chain. Users can easily purchase the units they want with a credit card or WETH.

As the first to announce his candidacy for the 2024 elections, Trump has quickly tapped into leveraging his huge followership through these NFTs.

According to reports, the first batch quickly sold out just a day after the launch. Due to the massive demand for the NFTs, their prices rapidly increased from $99 to about $230, with rarer ones selling for about $24,000.

These numbers for the NFT launch are impressive, especially because the crypto industry had initially suffered massive setbacks that made some elite NFTs lose about 80% of their value.

In response to the sell-out of the first series, Donald Trump launched a second batch of his NFTs for the same initial price of $99. The second batch had 47,000 units, featuring limited one-of-one NFTs and autographed cards.

While the NFT cards launched by Trump did well on primary sales, the secondary market realities continually journey far from impressive, with floor price tapering. While the Trump NFTs aren’t the first to hit the market from a politician, they have made paying attention to the politics-NFT intersection crucial.

Potential of NFTs in political fundraising: Facts and questions

NFTs thrive on attention, buzz, and funding; on closer look, politicians are the same. This reality makes both entities a perfect fit. Politicians, namely Andrew Yang, Jared Polis, Blake Masters, and Donald Trump use digital blockchain assets to raise funds and build digital communities.

This is such a novel use case; there are questions and facts to note. However, before looking at the questions, here are some factual use cases that can result from political NFTs:

• Direct engagement with supporters.

• Grassroot fundraising.

• Cultivating a passionate collector base.

• Revenue generation

While the Trump NFTs have tapped into these use cases and benefits since launch, the general questions that plagued the last generation of NFTs before the 2022 crypto winter persist.

• Will the NFTs’ value continue to rely on Trump’s personal brand?

• How tangible are the reward systems of the NFTs for all users?

Conclusion

Uncertainties remain with Trump NFTs. The future for political NFTs is unclear. So far, it's been a year since political NFTs hit the timeline. Hence, it's too early to judge whether we're witnessing a new era of political fundraising or a mere fad.