Key Takeaways
- Former U.S. First Lady Melania Trump seems to have bought her own NFT collection.
- Blockchain data reveled the funds used to purchase her NFT came from the creators themselves.
- Last month, Mrs. Trump had launched her Head of State Collection 2022, involving a hat, a painting and an NFT.
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com)- Remember when Melania Trump, the wife of former U.S. President Donald Trump, sold an NFT for 1,800 SOL worth $170,000? It turns out the entire thing could have been a whitewash or a PR stunt.
As alleged in a report by Vice, blockchain transactions reveal Melania Trump could have bought the NFT herself. However, the funds used to purchase Melenia’s collection came from a wallet belonging to the creators of the project.
Without getting into the confusing details, the creators sent funds to an intermediary wallet, which forwarded the same funds to the buyer’s address. The buyer then used the same funds to buy the NFT collection. After receiving the SOL from the buyer, the creators again sent the funds back to the intermediary wallet, which then converted the amount to USDC.
The news has left NFT enthusiasts wondering what may have caused this bizarre purchase.
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What happened with Mrs. Trump NFT collection?
In December last year, the former US First Lady announced plans to venture into the NFT world. She even launched her own NFT website to drop NFTs regularly.
Last month she held a 14-day auction of her first collection on the Solana (SOL) blockchain. Titled “Head of State Collection, 2022,” Melania set the opening bid at an ambitious $250,000. According to the official announcement, the collection intended to commemorate the Trump Administration’s first official state visit when Mr. and Mrs. Trump hosted French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018.
The Head of State collection featured three signed items:
The iconic white broad-brimmed military hat, worn and signed by Melania Trump. Along with the hat, the buyer would also get a watercolor on paper featuring her wearing the hat, signed by Melania Trump and Marc-Antoine Coulon. The collection also included a motion-activated digital artwork NFT signed by Mrs. Trump and Coulon.
The creators of the project claimed a portion of the proceeds derived from this auction will go towards providing individuals who have been in the foster care community with access to computer science and technology education.
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What excuse does Mrs. Trump have to buy her NFT collection?
In what may come as a surprise to some, Mrs. Trump’s collection did not fetch the minimum bid of $250,000. She hence had to settle for a lower amount while making the final sale.
However, as one would expect, the former first lady of the United States has denied the reports that she bought her NFTs herself.
“The nature of Blockchain protocol is entirely transparent. Accordingly, the public can view each transaction on the Blockchain. The transaction was facilitated on behalf of a third-party buyer,”
the Office of Melania Trump said in a statement.
Of course, it is possible that the secret buyer paid in fiat currency and asked Mrs. Trump’s team to help with cryptocurrency in return. They should not have sent the funds secretly through a third wallet if that was the case. The creators should have made any such agreement if any, public. Did she do it to save face, or is there a genuine secret buyer after all?
Meanwhile, Melania Trump announced on Thursday that she will be launching a new collection this month. The POTUS TRUMP NFT Collection commemorating Donald Trump’s Presidency will hit the market on 21 February on the occasion of Presidents’ Day.
