According to filings, Trump made as much as $1 million from NFT sales through a licensing agreement between his company CIC Digital LLC and NFT INT LLC, the creator of the collection.
Former President Donald Trump has reportedly earned between $100,001 to $1 million from the sale of Trump-branded non-fungible tokens (NFTs), according to a filing from the US Office of Government Ethics. The digital collectibles, which feature the likeness of the 45th president, were released in December 2021 and sold out within a day. News of Trump’s arraignment in New York caused a spike in the collection’s value over the past few weeks. Trump holds various positions at CIC Digital LLC and CIC Ventures LLC, as stated in the filing submitted on Friday. NFT INT LLC, the company behind the NFT project, was permitted to use Trump’s name, image, and likeness under a paid licensing agreement through CIC Digital LLC, as stated on the official Trump Trading Cards website. These details were first reported by ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
The recent filing from the US Office of Government Ethics revealed that the income generated from CIC Digital LLC was attributed to the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), amounting to somewhere between $100,001 to $1 million. The same document indicated that CIC Ventures LLC had received more than $5 million from speaking engagements. On-chain data from CryptoSlam, an NFT data aggregator, showed that the project has amassed over $19 million in sales since its inception. However, there has been a 13% drop in the number of active wallets holding Trump NFTs over the past week, with only 208 remaining.
The recently filed financial report reveals that CIC Digital LLC earned between $100,001 to $1 million from their NFT sales, while CIC Ventures LLC received over $5 million from speaking engagements. On-chain data collected by NFT data aggregator CryptoSlam indicates that the project has generated more than $19 million in sales since its inception. However, over the past week, the number of active wallets holding Trump NFTs has decreased by 13% to 208. Data from OpenSea shows that the majority of collectors (65%) own only one NFT, while 23% hold between two and three. Some wallets have amassed over 100 NFTs. Furthermore, 1,000 NFTs have not been made available to the public and are held in a Gnosis Safe Wallet, which requires multiple users to approve any asset movements.
Tracing the documentation
The process by which former US President Donald Trump earned up to $1 million from the sales of his non-fungible token (NFT) collection remains somewhat ambiguous. Although the official website states that none of the earnings from the collection will be going directly to Trump’s reelection campaign, records show that Trump has still managed to personally profit from the sales.
The platform OpenSea has a 10% royalty fee for creators on secondary sales of their NFTs. Presently, the highest bid for a Trump NFT is 10 ETH, which is equivalent to roughly $20,000. However, the majority of the offers seem to be in the range of 0.3 ETH, which is approximately $630.
Therefore, it is not entirely clear how Trump was able to generate such a large amount of revenue from the NFT collection, given the current bidding activity. Despite the lack of clarity on this matter, it is apparent that Trump has managed to profit from the NFT sales, albeit to an uncertain extent.
Since the NFT INT LLC project was launched, both cryptocurrency enthusiasts and Twitter users have been keen to examine the financial details, leading to the discovery of several questionable practices such as stolen art and dubious wallet addresses. Additionally, the company has a registered address at a UPS Store located in Park City, Utah, despite being incorporated in Wyoming.
Investigative journalist Kurt Eichenwald took it upon himself to investigate further, and discovered that the LLC had a connection to a building in Cheyenne, Wyoming, that has been linked to shell companies and global scandals in the past. This information raises further concerns regarding the legitimacy of the project and adds to the growing skepticism surrounding it.
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