In summary
-Donald Trump attributed the success of his NFT projects to his change of heart about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
- Trump explained that he saw that most of his NFT trading cards minted on the Ethereum scaling network Polygon were being purchased with Cryptocurrency, which surprised him.
- Before the launch of his first NFT collection in December 2022, Trump was not interested in cryptocurrencies and had criticized Bitcoin, but his opinion has changed after seeing the use of cryptocurrencies to purchase his NFTs.
During Monday’s World Liberty Financial launch event hosted by Decrypt’s sister company Rug Radio, former US President Donald Trump attributed the excitement over his own branded NFT projects to his change of heart towards cryptocurrencies.
According to the Republican presidential candidate, Trump saw that most of his NFT trading cards minted on the Ethereum scaling network Polygon were being purchased with cryptocurrencies, and that his supporters were excited about his foray into the space.
“So many people paid this way,” Trump said. “If they were paying in dollars, I would have said that’s normal, I would have accepted it, and I was amazed.”
Before the release of his first NFT collection in December 2022, Trump admitted that he had no interest in cryptocurrencies. In fact, he had previously criticized Bitcoin during his first presidential term, saying that he was not a fan. In 2021, after leaving the White House, he said in an interview that Bitcoin “just seems like a scam.”
But that position has since changed, as seeing the use of cryptocurrency to purchase his NFTs has apparently changed his mind. And since that first project sold out in 2022, Trump has released three additional sets of digital trading cards, the most recent of which was released in August.
“I asked what percentage was taken between Bitcoin and all the other things, but with crypto, and it was an overwhelming majority,” he said, noting his surprise at the number of people willing to spend their crypto on their digital cards.
“I was a little bit surprised by that, and that was a while ago, and it was an eye-opener,” she said. “But I think my kids opened my eyes more than anything else.”
Joining Trump on the Twitter Space live were his three sons, Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump and Barron Trump, the youngest of all, who Trump said was an experienced cryptocurrency user, even at just 18 years old.
“Barron knows a lot about this, and he’s young, but he knows,” Trump said. “(Barron) talks about his wallet, he has four wallets or something, he knows it very well.”
“It’s almost like the young people know a lot more than the older people,” Trump added. “But I have a lot of respect for them.”
Trump compared the crypto industry to a nascent but massive business, adding that it has the opportunity “to be something special.”
“When I do things, I notice a lot of crypto coming in; people paying with crypto,” Trump said. “A year, two years ago, you didn’t see that. So I think it’s really big, and yet it’s a newborn compared to what it will be.”
Edited by Andrew Hayward
Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication with additional details.
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