Melania Trump Victim Of Cryptocurrency Crash As Her Hat Auction Loses $80,000

Former First Lady Melania Trump's cryptocurrency-only hat auction reportedly lost $80,000 after the sell-off coincided with the cryptocurrency market crash.

She donned the "iconic" white hat in 2018 when she and her husband Donald Trump, who was the President at the time, hosted their first state visit at the White House. The broad-brimmed hat in white color was part of her "Head of State" auction, and had a $250,000 asking price, reported Daily Mail.

For the hat, Melania wanted to be paid in the cryptocurrency of the Solana blockchain called SOL, which was trading at a price of approximately $170 per token. Since she posted her auction in early January, SOL took a nose dive. Each SOL token was worth about $95 when the auction closed early Wednesday. The New York Times reported that there were only five bids that had been made by Tuesday evening, with the top offer standing at a cash equivalent of $170,000. According to The Washington Post, at one point, her auction climbed in value to more than $275,000.

Apart from the hat that was worn by Melania to welcome French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte to the White House in 2018, the auction also featured two artworks. Melania's office said that a part of the funds from the sale will be given to children living in the foster care system, in order to provide them with "access to computer science and technology education." But it is not clear how much of the proceeds will go to charity and to which charity.

While announcing the auction, Melania had recalled the importance of the Macrons' visit to the White House. She detailed the "great consideration" that went into the planning of her look for the occasion. Back then she paired the hat with a white skirt suit that was designed by Michael Kors.

Her auction launch came less than a month after she announced the sale of her first non-fungible token (NFT). It was a digital watercolor painting of Melania's eyes, which was accompanied by an audio message that detailed her "vision." She said in the brief recording that her vision was to "look forward with inspiration, strength and courage."