Donald Trump Launches New NFT Collection on the Bitcoin Ordinals Protocol

Former U.S. President Donald Trump's latest NFT collection, dubbed "Trump Bitcoin Digital Trading Cards," has officially commenced its rollout with an initial batch of 160 pieces minted on the Bitcoin network via the Ordinals protocol.

Those who manage to acquire 100 cards from the "Mugshot Edition" will be able to claim them on the NFT marketplace Magic Eden by linking their Bitcoin wallet.

Trump had initially announced the collection in January 2024, revealing that it would comprise a total of 200 cards, with an additional 40 pieces set to be released at a later stage. This marks Trump's first NFT project on Bitcoin, although he has been involved in other NFT ventures in the past.

His previous collections included the "Trump Digital Trading Cards," which featured editions such as the "America First" series that was released in August 2024. That edition offered perks like gold-themed sneakers and meals with Trump.

Despite garnering initial excitement, the "America First" series has yet to record any trading activity. Recent sales of other Trump-themed NFT products have also been hit or miss.

However, the newly launched NFT series on Bitcoin Ordinals appears to be faring differently, with 29% of the collection already minted at the time of writing.

In 2024, the NFT market recorded sales of $8.8 billion, marking a $100 million increase from 2023. Ethereum and Bitcoin led the industry with $3.1 billion in sales each, while Solana ranked third.

Collections like Pudgy Penguins dominated the space, generating $115 million in sales. Innovation also came from platforms like Magic Eden and Pudgy Penguins, which introduced their own tokens.

OpenSea, the leading NFT marketplace, is also rumored to be planning to launch a token in 2025.

On the other hand, challenges remained in the NFT market, with Kraken shutting down its NFT marketplace in November to focus on other projects and giving users until February 27, 2025, to withdraw their assets.

Additionally, market oversaturation continued to be a problem, with 98% of NFT collections showing little to no trading activity. Only 0.2% of new releases were profitable, and most collections lost over half their value within days. While late 2024 saw some signs of recovery in the NFT market, broader issues pointed to a decline in speculative trading.