Sales of Trump NFTs down 99% since mid-December debut generated $4.5 million

The primary launch in mid-December saw 44,000 of the $99 NFTs sell out in 24 hours, with the project raising almost $4.5 million.

But on Tuesday, the project, which is on the Polygon blockchain, recorded just short of $22,500 in sales, a decrease of 99.4% since its launch date. Only 49 unique buyers had interacted with the project over the past 24 hours, compared with about 2,200 in mid-December, according to CryptoSlam. Just days after the collection launched, one NFT featuring Trump’s autograph next to a picture of him in a suit was sold for 37 Ether (about $49,000).

Still, at 0.179 ETH (about $237), the collection’s price floor—the lowest price of one NFT in a given collection—on NFT marketplace OpenSea was more than double its initial price tag.

The NFTs were widely ridiculed on late-night talk shows, social media, and by Republicans following Trump’s “major announcement” last month. Even one-time Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon criticized the project saying that the team behind it should be fired.

Others called out the poor quality of the artwork, saying that it paled in comparison to many other NFT projects. 

The clothing featured in Trump’s trading cards also seemed to be lifted off the website of a sportswear store, as well as from Amazon, Gizmodo reported.

Some on social media have called out the project as a scam because of the huge drop in trading activity just a month after the cards were released. But in the NFT space, it’s also common for projects to fizzle quickly after peaking.

While the former president said in 2019 that he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrencies, he touted the NFTs in a video on his own social media service, Truth Social, as the “perfect gifts.”