Analyzing the Very Bizarre Sale of Melania Trump's $170,000 NFT

[Nevilledog]

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Khashoggi’s Ghost
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Analyzing the Very Bizarre Sale of Melania Trump’s $170,000 NFT

The crypto used to purchase the former First Lady's NFT came from the NFT creator themselves, blockchain records reveal. But why?

vice.com
Analyzing the Very Bizarre Sale of Melania Trump’s $170,000 NFT
The crypto used to purchase the former First Lady's NFT came from the NFT creator themselves, blockchain records reveal. But why?
7:30 PM · Feb 8, 2022

https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7vpx8/analyzing-the-very-bizarre-sale-of-melania-trumps-dollar170000-nft

The $170,000 purchase of an NFT collection auctioned by Melania Trump was made by the entity that originally put the NFT up for sale, according to blockchain records.

The former First Lady got into NFTs last year, launching her own website and lining up a slate of auctions. On January 11, Trump started auctioning the "Head of State Collection, 2022" on the Solana blockchain, a package deal that paired the "iconic white millinery masterpiece worn by Mrs. Trump" (a wide-brimmed hat she wore during a 2018 visit with French President Emanuel Macron) with a watercolor of her wearing it, as well as an NFT. The opening bid, according to a press release, was "the equivalent of $250,000" denominated in SOL tokens (1,800 SOL at the time) and a "portion" of the proceeds would be used to "provide foster care children with access to computer science and technology education."

After the auction's conclusion, The New York Times ran a piece describing the sale as attracting a few bids all around 1,800 SOL, ultimately ending with somebody purchasing the NFT for 1,800 SOL worth $170,000 at the time (now $200,000), a price far below the figure touted by the auction's press release and which the paper described as "deflated results" due to a wider crash in the price of cryptocurrencies.

Now, according to Solana blockchain records reviewed by Motherboard and shared with an independent researcher, we know who bought the NFT collection: Melania Trump herself, or at least, whoever set up the auction for her. In a statement to Motherboard from "the Office of Melania Trump," Trump said "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."

*snip*

[FalloutShelter]

1. HAHA embarrassing.

No one wants tour flea market shit.

[brush]

4. Yep, that's throwing your money away. NFTs are supposed to be...

art, but who wants artwork that you can't physically hang on your wall or put on a pedestal?

There may be a couple of Melanoma fan boys out there, but I'd say very few of them have the 170,000 bucks to plop down for an image stored on a cell phone.

[FalloutShelter]

5. NFTs are a scam.

I AM an artist and I know that no one spends that kind of money on a work of art that they can’t stand in front of unless they are a mark.
Just MHO.

The goal posts keep getting moved for serious artists.

[brush]

11. I'm with you.

[FalloutShelter]

12. Yep!

[TexasTowelie]

2. So does she has to pay a commission to Solana for hosting the sale?

Seems like a losing proposition to bid on the items that are being auctioned.

[SoCalDavidS]

8. Surely You Jest

That family doesn't pay their debts.

[Takket]

3. "The transaction was facilitated on behalf of a third-party buyer."

Doesn't that mean someone basically said "i'll buy it, go ahead and bid this amount for me and here is the cash"?

[Walleye]

6. Sounds like these NFT's are perfect for money laundering

[MerryBlooms]

10. Ah, I thought the same thing! 😏

[dixiechiken1]

13. My first thought as well... 🤔

[captain queeg]

16. My thought as well. Especially when it involves a trump.

[MerryBlooms]

7. I don't know anything about this form of currency,

Is there a possibility for widespread money laundering? I guess because trumps are involved in this transaction, money laundering was the first thing that came to mind. Trial balloon? It's my Friday and I've had a glass of wine, pay no attention to me. tgif 😸

[Dorian Gray]

9. Two words

Money Laundering.

(Or my eyes glazed over at that explanation.)

[LoisB]

14. "iconic white millinery masterpiece" - LOL. It's a frigging white hat.

[Hortensis]

15. OMG. "But why?"

Might as well ask why they plagiarized Michelle Obama's (!) speech for Melania to deliver at RNC Convention in 2016 -- and thought no one would notice.

That one just happened to pop to mind.

[Me.]

17. Yet Another Flim Flam

[3catwoman3]

18. Non Fungible Token...

…sounds like a poisonous mushroom.

[struggle4progress]

19. Look! See! It is Melania! She is wearing her new hat! Her new hat is white!

This hat cost me $170 000, says Melania!

It was once owned by the First Lady! says Melania!

But it is my hat now, says Melania! Eat your heart out!

[NBachers]

20. I'm sorry, NFT sounds like a fart noise, and that's as deep as I'm going to get in trying to

understand it.

[dchill]

21. I got your NFT right here!

[tblue37]

22. Could it be money laundering?