Melania Trump’s NFT has been sold to its creators only

NFT of a hat worn by Melania Trump during her visit with French President Emmanuel Macron has been sold for $170k. Notably, that was the first Non-Fungible Token sold by Melania Trump. The token came from the series “Head of State Collection 2022” and was minted on the Solana blockchain network which is also considered as the Ethereum killer. It is worth noting that the token’s winning bid was 1800 SOL, which was worth $170k at the time of purchase. However, following the blockchain data it has been unveiled that the collectible ended up selling to its creators.

Motherboard investigated Melania Trump’s NFT sale

Melania’s NFT was of a hat she wore during a visit with French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018. Notably, the digital collectibles were accompanied by the physical item. The announcement for the token was first a foray into NFTs last year. 

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At the time of announcement, Melania described the token as a combination of her passion for art and commitment to help the United States’ children fulfill their unique American Dream.

Wash Trade

However, Motherboard first investigated the hat NFT’s transaction amid noticing that whoever set up the auction had purchased the token. The first address that minted the token sent roughly $473,650 USDC to an intermediary address. Amid, the middle address swapped some of stablecoins for just over 1,816 SOL which was sent to the third address. And the third address was the one that purchased the NFT.

Surprisingly, representatives of Melania Trump offered a statement to Motherboard. According to the representatives, the nature of blockchain protocol is entirely transparent. Anyone can view each transaction on the blockchain. And the NFT’s transaction was facilitated on behalf of a third party buyer.

Such a statement does not really address the matter at hand, as they avoided to highlight who exactly bought the token. And now the buyer’s identity remains a strange set of events with no updates from Melania Trump.

NFTs are continuing to soar

Non-Fungible Tokens are finding ways in all sorts of industries and niches. And the fact that the spouse of Donald Trump has sold a NFT is something of a major development. These tokens are ridiculed by some and loved by others. Moreover, these collectibles have shown no signs of abating, and their popularity has reached political spheres.