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- Former First Lady Melania Trump's hat auction may have become collateral damage in the crypto crash.
- Trump is taking bids for the hat in the crypto Solana, which plunged 40% over the last week.
- The hat was meant to be sold with a starting bid of $250,000, but the lot is currently fetching just over $170,000.
Former First Lady Melania Trump's crypto-only hat auction may have become the latest collateral damage in the ongoing cryptocurrency crash.
Trump is accepting bids on her white Hervé Pierre hat and other White House memorabilia in Solana — one of the hardest-hit cryptocurrencies in the brutal price plunge this week. According to Decrypt, the value of Solana has dropped more than 40%. This freefall in Solana's value comes amid a broader drop in the value of various cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin losing 20% of its value and Ethereum, 30% in the last week.
According to a press release, Trump's team requested an opening bid of $250,000.
At one point, according to The Washington Post, Trump's auction, which opened on January 11, climbed in value to more than $275,000. But when the auction closed on Tuesday following the crypto market crash, the hat's high bid was $160,218.
Perhaps due to the unexpectedly low price, the auction was re-opened five hours later.
At press time, Trump's auction was still open, and the highest bid on it was 1,800 SOL, with a value of $171,144.
"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, commenting on Trump's auction. "It is just too volatile."
In December, Trump ventured into the world of NFTs with a digital art piece called "Melania's Vision," a watercolor representing her "cobalt blue eyes." In January, Trump also unveiled her "Head of State" collection, which included the "iconic wide-brimmed" Hervé Pierre hat, a watercolor painting, and a nonfungible token.
"It is important to note that Mr. Pierre designed Mrs. Trump's inaugural gown and served as her fashion stylist and consultant during the Presidency," read the statement announcing the auction. "Indeed, Mrs. Trump's iconic white hat garnered media attention worldwide."
Trump has embraced crypto-currencies, even paying tribute to bitcoin on her Twitter in January.
"Today marks the 13th anniversary of the Bitcoin Genesis Block," she told her nearly 2 million followers. "Happy Anniversary, #SatoshiNakamoto #MelaniaNFT."
Trump is not the only public figure to face potential financial loss due to the crypto crash this week. New York City Mayor Eric Adams also saw a possible loss of about $1,000 through Monday due to the cryptocurrency meltdown. In November, Adams, who took office on January 1, announced he would take his first three paychecks in bitcoin.