The NFT revenue named after Trump has exceeded $8 million, and the branded DeFi project WLFI is expected to generate $337 million in revenue.
Written by: Xiyou, ChainCatcher
Edited by: Nianqing, ChainCatcher
On November 5, local time, the dust settled on the voting for the 60th presidential campaign in the United States. Whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris will ultimately move into the White House is not only a focus of global attention but also a new shift in the crypto world.
Since the beginning of his campaign, Trump has repeatedly expressed support for the development of cryptocurrencies. If he successfully returns to the White House, the strict regulatory policies on the crypto market in the U.S. may undergo a transformation, injecting new vitality into the industry. At the Bitcoin 2024 conference, Trump stated in his speech that if re-elected, he would ensure that the government retains 100% of its Bitcoin holdings and would classify Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset for the U.S.
Trump is not only a supporter of the crypto market but also a direct participant. During his campaign, he received donations from crypto whales and institutions and personally engaged in several crypto projects. The revenue from NFT and DeFi crypto projects he participated in through OEM branding has exceeded $10 million.
According to data from the Arkham platform, as of November 5, the value of the crypto assets held in Trump's wallet address was $6.15 million. At its peak in June this year, the value reached as high as $25 million, with nearly 1,000 Ethereum held, valued at $2.38 million.
Trump's active participation and significant earnings in the crypto market undoubtedly bring a new shift and attention to the crypto world. If Trump is elected, the impact on the crypto market will be profound.
Trump's NFT series card sales revenue exceeds $22 million, and licensing fees profit over $8 million
Since 2022, Trump has released four series of NFT digital trading cards, with a total issuance of over 200,000 NFTs. Each card is priced at $99, and the revenue from selling NFTs alone has exceeded $22 million.
First, in December 2022, Trump launched his first series of NFTs—the Trump Digital Trading Card NFT. This series of NFTs was created on Polygon and features Trump in various cosplay themes, including images of Trump as a superhero, astronaut, race car driver, and Western sheriff.
This was the first series of Trump NFTs, with each priced at $99 and a total issuance of 45,000. Buyers could participate in a lottery, meet Trump, or play golf, among other benefits. The launch of this series quickly garnered a warm market response, selling out within 18 hours and achieving sales of $4.455 million.
Additionally, this series of NFTs has been quite active in the secondary market. According to the latest data from Opensea, the number of addresses holding this series of NFTs has exceeded 140,000, with a total trading volume in the secondary market of 15,859 ETH, which, at a price of $2,600 per ETH, amounts to approximately $41.23 million.
This means that the revenue from selling cards in Trump's first NFT series alone is $4.45 million. Furthermore, this series has a 10% royalty, resulting in over $4 million in royalty income from the trading volume of over $40 million. The total income from this series of NFTs exceeds $8.5 million (including sales and royalty income).
Perhaps seeing the considerable revenue brought by NFTs, just four months after the first NFT (in April 2023), the second series of Trump Digital Trading Cards (Trump Digital Trading Cards Series 2) was officially launched. This series primarily showcases Trump in a suit, with a total issuance of 47,000 cards, each priced at $99. It sold out in less than 5 hours, achieving sales of $4.653 million, with a current floor price of 110 POL (approximately $33).
On December 23 of the same year, Trump released the third series of NFTs (Trump Digital Trading Cards MugShot Edition), priced at $99 per card. Unlike previous series, this one has a total of 100,000 cards and primarily showcases Trump's image after his arrest. This series of NFTs generated approximately $9.9 million in revenue.
In August of this year, Trump launched the fourth series of NFTs (Trump Digital Trading Cards America First Edition), themed around Trump's appearance in a suit during the presidential debate with Biden, expressing a never-surrender political strategy. It also includes scenes of dancing, holding Bitcoin, and standing next to a buffalo or lion, further reinforcing Trump's support for crypto.
The fourth series of NFTs is also priced at $99 per card, and holders can receive benefits related to the debate suit and participate in a golf club dinner. The official website shows it has sold out. However, this series of NFTs cannot be transferred until January 31, 2025. According to the latest data from Opensea, the fourth series has an issuance of 31,740 cards, with total sales revenue of approximately $3.14 million, 1,568 addresses holding it, and a current floor price of 529 POL (approximately $161.7).
In summary, Trump's first NFT series was issued in December 2022, with a total of 45,000 cards (sales revenue of $4.45 million); the second series was released in April 2023, with 47,000 cards (sales revenue of $4.65 million), and both series 1 and 2 have an additional 10% royalty income; the third series MugShot was released in December 2023, with 100,000 cards ($9.9 million); the fourth series America First was launched in August this year, with an issuance of 31,740 cards (profit of $3.14 million).
Thus far, the revenue generated from Trump's NFT digital trading cards has exceeded $22 million.
However, the Trump series NFTs are not directly issued by him or his company but are produced and sold by the NFT issuing company NFT International LLC (NFT INT LLC). This company is authorized to use Trump's name, likeness, and images to create digital trading cards under a paid license and pays Trump licensing fees.
According to earlier disclosed financial data from Trump's campaign this year, NFT INT LLC has earned $19 million from launching three series of Trump digital trading cards and paid Trump $7.15 million in licensing fees, while Trump's wife Melania Trump earned $330,000 from NFT sales.
Adding the $3.14 million in revenue from the newly launched NFTs in August, NFT INT LLC has now earned over $22 million solely from selling Trump's NFTs. If the NFT issuing company pays licensing fees based on a revenue-sharing model, the fees paid to Trump would account for approximately 37% of the revenue ($7.15 million / $19 million). The fourth series of NFTs would require an additional payment of $1.17 million in licensing fees to Trump ($3.14 million * 37%), meaning Trump has netted over $8 million solely from the branded NFTs ($7.15 million + $1.17 million).
Since Trump entered the presidential race, the floor price of the Trump series NFTs has significantly increased. As of November 5, there are two priced above $100, with the floor price of the first series digital trading cards at 450 POL ($135); the second series digital trading cards at 110 POL ($33); the floor price of the third series MugShot is unknown; and the fourth series NFTs (America First) priced at 529 POL (approximately $161.7).
Trump family expected revenue from branded DeFi project World Liberty Financial reaches $337 million
If NFTs were Trump's first successful foray into the crypto market, then the DeFi project World Liberty Financial (WLFI) is another significant effort publicly endorsed by the Trump family.
World Liberty Financial claims to be a project driven by members of Donald Trump's family (sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.) and has received multiple endorsements from Trump himself on his official Twitter account. For instance, before and after the WLFI token sale, Trump's official X account continuously posted promotional content for its token sales, leading the crypto community to view World Liberty Financial as a DeFi project personally supported by Trump.
World Liberty Financial is a DeFi protocol where users can borrow and lend cryptocurrencies, create liquidity pools, and trade using stablecoins.
On the evening of October 15, the World Liberty Financial token WLFI officially began its public sale, with a total issuance of 100 billion WLFI tokens, planning to publicly sell 20 billion tokens at a price of $0.015 (equivalent to $300 million).
However, the sales results for the WLFI token fell far short of expectations, with participating funds totaling less than $15 million. As of November 5, only 982 million WLFI tokens had been sold, raising just $14.73 million.
The main reason for this outcome is that the white paper released by World Liberty Financial on October 18 indicated that the project was utilizing Trump's image for promotion and marketing through an authorized partnership with the Trump family and Trump himself. Trump is occasionally required to promote the WLF and World Liberty Financial protocol through tweets, but the Trump family is not personally involved in the project and only appears as an endorsement.
As part of the authorization agreement, the Trump family will receive 22.5 billion WLF tokens, which, at the issuance price of $0.015, will be valued at $337.5 million. Additionally, the Trump family has the right to receive 75% of the net income from the protocol but bears no responsibility for WLF.
From the tweets to the images of Trump on the website and white paper, World Liberty Financial appears to be highly associated with the Trump family. However, the reality is that it is an OEM product of Trump and his family, who are merely profiting from renting out their brand, while other operators are using the Trump family's name to run the product. Even more concerning is that the operators behind World Liberty Financial have been found to have code that appears to be directly copied from Dough Finance, a DeFi product that was recently hacked.
The business model of "branding, naming, and endorsement" is not uncommon in the Trump family. Around the world, many Trump-branded hotels or towers operate under licensing and OEM agreements with Trump. Similarly, in the crypto world, Trump has issued NFTs in an OEM manner and has applied this again in the crypto DeFi project World Liberty Financial. However, this time, based on the participation from the crypto community, even with Trump's name attached, users may not necessarily be convinced.
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