Free Republic

Want a piece of a former president? Be ready to open up your wallet. Donald Trump is once again cashing in on his legal headaches, rolling out the “MugShot Edition” of his digital trading cards — featuring a sample of the suit he wore for his booking photo in Georgia earlier this year. The latest card release includes a mishmash of flashy fictional images of Trump smashing through chains, donning what appears to be an Iron Man mask, and wearing a cowboy outfit. Each digital trading card or non-fungible token (NFT) goes for around $99. If patrons purchase 47 or...

New report from industry researchers finds that 95 percent of the once-hyped crypto assets have hit rock-bottom valuation NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, once vaunted as a revolution in crypto and digital art, are largely worthless. Upon analysis of 73,257 NFT collections, the authors found that 69,795 have a market cap of zero Ether (ETH) The study estimates that some 23 million investors own these tokens of no practical use or value. What’s more, supply vastly outstripped demand for NFTs. Just 21 percent of the collections included in the study can claim full ownership, meaning around four out of every five...

The IRS said it plans to tax some non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, as collectibles akin to art or gems — an approach that would tax profits for wealthy owners at a higher rate relative to assets such as stocks, real estate and cryptocurrency. The federal government levies taxes on collectibles held for more than a year at a top rate of 28%. It generally levies a top 20% rate on other investments. In a notice on Monday, the IRS said it intends to issue guidance regarding the treatment of certain NFTs as collectibles. NFTs are essentially one-of-a-kind digital assets, which...

Somehow, people seem legitimately confused that they can't avoid laws with pictures.The financial industry used to be able to make 💩 up so 🤷‍♂️ investors would hand over their 💵. Then the United States passed securities laws and started to crack down on people ginning up public investment based on wild or outright false promises of future returns. This made Wall Street very 🤬. As decades passed, those folks eventually had to accept the SEC, but a new generation of finance bros have shaken off the strictures of Wall Street and moved to the crypto industry (which doesn’t have...

Trump's cards sold out in 12 hours 45,000 at $99 each = $4,500,000

The far-right streamer and Jan. 6 rioter known as “Baked Alaska” labeled former President Donald Trump a mere “nft salesman” after his teased “big announcement” flopped Thursday. Trump riled up much of the political world Wednesday when he took to his account on Truth Social to hype a “major announcement” that ended up being a $99.00 NFT trading card of himself dressed as a superhero. The announcement drew mockery, ridicule, and concern from conservatives. Baked Alaska is a White nationalist former MAGA streamer whose legal name is Anthime Joseph Gionet. He was among many who gave Trump’s latest money-making venture...

Over the last 24 hours, fans of ex-President Donald Trump have sat huddled in their chairs, waiting with bated breath for a supposed announcement the once tweeter-in-chief promised would blow their socks off. He posted a video to his Truth Social page showing an image of him in a kind of superhero garb, sporting pecs he most certainly does not have, as laser beams shoot from his eyes. What could this mean? What apocalypse was coming? On Thursday the grand surprise was finally revealed and it was nothing but another horrific NFT project that, in Trump’s words, featured “amazing ART...

Greater than Lincoln or Washington! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeUH90coXSI

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT! My official Donald Trump Digital Trading Card collection is here! These limited edition cards feature amazing ART of my Life & Career! Collect all of your favorite Trump Digital Trading Cards, very much like a baseball card, but hopefully much more exciting. Go to collecttrumpcards.com/ & GET YOUR CARDS NOW! Only $99 each! Would make a great Christmas gift. Don’t Wait. They will be gone, I believe, very quickly!

The group of plaintiffs claim that the A-listers peddled the non-fungible tokens — which have plummeted in value in the last year — without disclosing their investment in the company behind them, Yuga Labs. Other celebs named in the suit include: Justin Bieber, Kevin Hart, Stephen Curry, Serena Williams and her husband Reddit CEO Alexis Ohanian, Snoop Dogg, The Weeknd, and DJ Khaled. Adidas and Jimmy Fallon’s production company Election Hot Dog are also named as defendants. The suit claims that talent manager Guy Oseary was behind most of the promotions, recruiting famous people in exchange for payment through a...

Bored Ape Yacht Club hype was in full swing earlier this year as celebrities “aped into” the pricey Ethereum NFT collection. Some have even used their Apes to create products, themed restaurants, live performances, and more.

The newly elected UK prime minister wants to “fix our economy, unite our Party and deliver for our country” Sunak previously asked the Royal Mint to create NFTs to demonstrate the country’s commitment to investing in cryptocurrency technology The United Kingdom’s incoming prime minister may be a bullish indicator for the country’s crypto prowess. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is set to take the seat following the resignation of Liz Truss — who was in office for just 45 days. Handpicked by fellow Conservative Party members on Monday, Sunak, the son of Indian immigrants, will be the first...

San Francisco is getting its first NFT-based restaurant and private club. And it’s being built right in the middle of a public park. A flurry of recent press releases from an entity named the Sho Group — a “global experiential hospitality platform” — revealed the details of the ostentatious Japanese-themed restaurant and private club, to be built on San Francisco’s most ostentatious public space, Salesforce Park. The restaurant, slated to open sometime next year, will include the members-only Sho Club Sky Lounge and will be perched atop the western end of Salesforce Park’s four-block stretch in a neighborhood no one...

GameStop on Monday announced the long-awaited debut of its online marketplace for nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, in a bid to reinvent its business and cash in on consumer adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

A non-fungible token (NFT) of the first tweet made by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey originally bought for $2.9 million has reportedly failed to hold its value, with a recent top bid for the NFT reaching just $6,800. That represents a drop in value of approximately 99.8 percent based on the original purchase price. The Guardian reports that an NFT of former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s first tweet was sold in March 2021 for $2.9 million, bought by crypto entrepreneur Sina Estavi. The purchase made headlines at the time, with many shocked at the purchasing price, but Estavi seemed confident...

Andy Parker has tried seemingly everything to get videos of his daughter Alison Parker's murder wiped off social media platforms, where they spread after she was fatally shot while taping a live local news segment in 2015. He has enlisted allies to find and report the clips to Facebook and YouTube, filed complaints with federal regulators against the companies and recently launched a congressional campaign focused in part on holding social media platforms accountable. Yet despite those efforts, copies of the footage remain online, some with tens of thousands of views. Over the years, Andy Parker has run into a...

If you were trying to design a magazine to tantalize, excite, and frustrate QAnon believers, you could hardly do better than a 1997 issue of George. Due to the peculiarities of history, the muscular free market, and the fact that we live in hell, copies of the issue—which is taglined “Survival Guide to the Future”—have recently sold for thousands of dollars on eBay. The magazine has become one of the minor holy objects passed around by the Q crowd as evidence of the truth of their addled quest. George enjoyed a short but infamous run, often inextricably tied with the...

A French surgeon is facing legal action and condemnation after auctioning an X-ray of a gunshot wound from a victim of the 2015 massacre at the Bataclan theater in Paris where 90 people were killed. The surgeon promoted the sale of the X-ray in the form of a non-fungible token on the marketplace called OpenSea. The surgeon has been identified as Emmanuel Masmejean, an orthopedic surgeon at the European Hospital Georges Pompidou in southwest Paris. Martin Hirsch, who manages Paris' public hospitals, called the incident "disgraceful," in a tweet in French, as translated by Insider, saying, "This act is contrary...

Washington (AFP) – Former US first lady Melania Trump on Thursday launched her own NFT platform, the latest public figure to join the crypto boom. A non-fungible token (NFT) is a digital object that can be a drawing, animation, piece of music, photo, or video with a certificate of authenticity created by blockchain technology. This authentication by a network of computers is considered inviolable. A portion of the proceeds from Melania Trump's NFT collection will be used to help children in foster care. "I am proud to announce my new NFT endeavor, which embodies my passion for the arts, and...

You can quite literally buy her love. Polish influencer Marta Rentel, 26, claims she has sold her “digital love” in a nonfungible token, or NFT, for $250,000 (1 million Polish zloty), Insider reported. As a real-life token of the symbolic transaction, completed on July 13, Rentel agreed to go on one date with the anonymous buyer, according to Insider. As explained by Rentel on her website: “My name is Marti Renti. It’s not my ‘real’ name though, it’s the digital version of it, coming from the parallel world where the internet is my stage.” The shrewd businesswoman shared her plans...