Former First Lady Melania Trump’s crypto-only hat auction became the latest collateral damage in the cryptocurrency crash this week setting her up to lose thousands, according to Insider.
Earlier this month,Trump announced she is launching the ‘Head of State Collection‘ auction to sell the hat she wore during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the White House in 2018. Payment would be accepted in Solana– a form of cryptocurrency. In addition to the hat, the auction also included a watercolor by French artist Marc-Antoine Coulon and “an exclusive digital artwork NFT with motion.”
The auction was set to run from Jan. 11-25 with opening bids starting at $250,000.
However, the Solana was one of the hardest-hit cryptocurrencies in the crash this week. It lost more than 40 percent of its value. According to the New York Times, only five bids had been made when the auction closed on Tuesday. The top offer for the hat was $160,218, far below the minimum bid.
The auction was re-opened five hours later due to the low bids. It is now closed with the highest bid being 1,800 SOL, with a value of $179,676. Melania is set to lose more than $70k.
“This is just evidence that none of the cryptocurrency assets provide a good, stable enough means of payment,” Cornell University law professor and financial regulation expert Dan Awrey told The New York Times.”It is just too volatile.”
This is Melania’s second NFT collection for sale. In December she announced a new line of NFT of her eyes called “Melania’s Vision” by French artist Marc-Antoine Coulon.
