Melania Trump's hat auction takes a beating amid cryptocurrency crash: report
Melania Trump's auction of a hat she once wore at the White House isn't quite going as planned.
In early January, the former first lady announced she would be auctioning the wide-brimmed white hat she wore during a 2018 visit by President Emmanuel Macron of France.
The auction was expected to open with a minimum bid of $250,000. However, as of Tuesday evening, only a few bids had been made, with the dollar value of the highest one hovering around $170,000, according to the New York Times.
The auction is set to close early Wednesday morning.
The NYT reported that the auction appears to have fallen victim to a crash in the cryptocurrency market.
The hat is being auctioned as part of the former first lady's "Head of State Collection, 2022," which also includes a watercolor of her wearing it, as well as a virtual piece of art called a nonfungible token (NFT).
Bids were only accepted in the cryptocurrency of the Solana blockchain called SOL, which was trading at $170 per token when the auction was announced.
"But in the weeks since, SOL, along with most other cryptocurrencies, has suffered major declines in value. On the evening before the closing of the auction on Tuesday, each SOL was worth about $95," the NYT reported. "Mrs. Trump could hold on to the Solana tokens and hope that their value increases. Or the dip in value might continue, leaving her with an even smaller take."
The former first lady has said a portion of the proceeds will benefit children in foster care. But she has not said what percentage she plans to keep.
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