Melania Trump hawks $50 NFTs to ‘celebrate our great nation’ ahead of July 4

Melania Trump is launching a collection of $50 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) featuring US landmarks in time for the 4th of July.

The former first lady’s “1776 Collection” includes images of Mount Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty and the Liberty Bell, set to patriotic-themed music.

Ms Trump’s office said in a statement that each NFT was designed to celebrate the “foundations of American ideals”.

“The 1776 Collection of artwork draws inspiration from several iconic landmarks of our nation, which I had the privilege of visiting during the time I served as first lady,” Ms Trump said. 

“I am proud to celebrate our great nation and remain inspired by the words contained within the Declaration of Independence.”

An NFT is a blockchain-based certificate verifying ownership. The 1776 Collection was created on the Solana blockchain, and went on sale on Thursday.

Ms Trump’s office said a portion of the sale price would go to support foster children. The site did not immediately respond to a request for further details about what percentage of the proceeds would be donated.

Ms Trump has previously dabbled in NFTs since leaving the White House.

In 2021, she launched a digital watercolour painting of her eyes for $180 each.

Then in 2022, Ms Trump faced accusations of bidding $185,000 in an auction for her “Head of State Collection 2022.”

An analysis of Solana blockchain transactions by Bloomberg found the winning bid of 1800 SOL came from a wallet that belonged to the entity that originally listed the project for sale.