Former FLOTUS Melania Trump to auction NFT of her 'cobalt blue eyes'
The NFT, entitled 'Melania's Vision', is a watercolour art by Marc-Antoine Coulon, and will include an audio recording from the Former First Lady of the US.
Former US First Lady Melania Trump has launched her own NFT platform on which she plans to release exclusive NFTs to raise money for children in foster care.
The first NFT - an artwork of her eyes by Marc-Antoine Coulon, entitled 'Melania's Vision' - will be sold between December 16 and December 31, 2021. The limited-edition piece of digital artwork will also include an audio recording from Trump.
The NFT platform will be based on the Solana blockchain protocol. The digital artwork will be 1 SOL, or around $150.
"Through this new technology-based platform, we will provide children computer science skills, including programming and software development, to thrive after they age out of the foster community," Trump said in the press release issued by her office.
Melania Trump's first NFT (Image credit: The office of Melania Trump)
The NFT initiative by Trump has garnered an equal amount of appreciation and scepticism, with some saying the wordings of the press release - in particular the "portion of proceeds" going to charity bit - have raised red flags.
President and CEO of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, Aaron Dorfman that when a company says "a portion of the proceeds" will go to charity, without indicating the specific amount, "it's a huge red flag."
"It means that charity is not a serious part of their plan..it's a marketing ploy," he was reported by media firms as saying.
NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, have taken the media by storm in recent months.
They are essentially virtual assets and have no tangible form, but can be sold like any other piece of property. NFTs are unique and do not serve as a medium of exchange. Rather, they are collectibles, and serve as proof of ownership of a certain digital asset.
The sale of an NFT by digital artist Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) for $69 million earlier this year opened the floodgates for scores of other NFT sales by various artists, musicians, actors, and regular users.
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's first-ever tweet sold for the equivalent of $2.9 million, while western stars such as Eminem, Grimes, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, as well as Indian celebrities Amitabh Bachchan, Vishal Malhotra, and more have launched their own NFTs to capitalise on their growing popularity.
In India, platforms like the WazirX NFT marketplace have been leading the space in making buying and selling NFT assets economical and easier.
Edited by Teja Lele