Melania Trump's attempt to auction White House memorabilia flopped, falling far short of the $250,000 starting bid thanks to a crypto crash
Trump got just five bids for her signed hat, watercolor, and NFT. They sold for the equivalent of $162,144, far below her $250,000 guide price.
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
- The former first lady put up a hat, a watercolor, and an NFT for auction.
- The items sold for the equivalent of $162,144 on Wednesday, far below her $250,000 guide price.
- Bids were only accepted in the Solana cryptocurrency, but its price crashed 40% during the auction.
Former first lady Melania Trump's auction of White House memorabilia ended Wednesday morning, garnering just five bids that all fell short of her starting bid.
Trump put three "one-of-a-kind" items up for auction on January 11, which were a white Hervé Pierre hat, a signed watercolor of Trump by the artist Marc-Antoine Coulon, and a non-fungible token (NFT) version of the drawing.
Buyers could only make bids using the Solana cryptocurrency, but the token's value crashed 40% while the auction was active.
The items received just five bids, each at the minimum amount of 1,800 Solana tokens.
At the time of the auction's ending on Wednesday morning, those tokens were worth a total of $162,144 — far short of Trump's $250,000 guide price.
Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
The value of the highest Solana bid at one point got to $275,000 before the price crashed, The Washington Post reported. And at one point on Tuesday, bidding went offline for five hours, The Post said.
Trump previously auctioned NFTs of a painting of her eyes, also by Coulon, for $150.
Part of the proceeds from both auctions goes to a charity to help foster children, according to Trump's website.
The white hat put up for auction earlier this month was worn by Trump during French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to the US in April 2018.
"Since 2018, this custom-designed hat has been symbolic of the French state visit to The White House. Now, it's time for someone new to cherish this part of history," Trump's office tweeted.