Melania To Launch 'POTUS' NFT Collection Paying Tribute To Donald Trump

Melania Trump has announced the release of a brand-new NFT collection on Thursday, Feb. 17, as her previous NFT collection receives controversy after outlets accuse her of wash trading in order to inflate the value of her own non-fungible token.

The POTUS TRUMP NFT collection of digital art and NFTs are from artwork tied to memorable parts of former President Donald Trump’s one term in office. Included in the collection is his visit to Mt. Rushmore as well as Melania Trump’s Christmas decorations, according to the Daily Beast.

The collection is tied to 10,000 tokens on the Solana blockchain which are priced at $50 each. In a statement to the public, Trump highlights the importance of her husband’s contribution to American history at large as its former President.

“I am proud to expand upon my NFT platform and am honored to be able to recognize important moments in our Nation’s history,” she said in a statement.

This brand-new collection comes as reports come in that Melania’s previous collection, which someone bought for $180,000 in Solana cryptocurrency, was actually taken from Trump’s own crypto wallet, creating accusations of wash trading for the former First Lady, Rolling Stone reported.

Wash trading, which is where you buy and sell an asset you own to inflate its price on the market, is illegal to do in securities and futures done on the market. However, as cryptocurrency and the blockchain is unregulated, wash trading can be done with little consequence, according to Bloomberg.

Trump’s office, when asked about the trade and its implications, attempted to explain the situation without outright denying or confirming their actions.

“The nature of Blockchain protocol is entirely transparent,” Melania’s office said. “Accordingly, the public can view each transaction on the Blockchain. The transaction was facilitated on behalf of a third-party buyer.”

Melania Trump’s NFT collection is geared to raise funds for Fostering the Future, a part of her Be Best initiative that helps foster children to learn skills related to computer science and technology.