Trump Bitcoin Sneakers Sell Out, Already on EBay for $2,500 - Decrypt

08/01/2024 13:44
Trump Bitcoin Sneakers Sell Out, Already on EBay for $2,500 - Decrypt

The sneakers are being sold through a licensing deal with "CIC Ventures LLC."

Donald Trump’s Bitcoin-themed sneakers sold out shortly after listing and secondary sales are taking off.

The listing for the “Trump Crypto President High Tops - Bitcoin Orange” sneakers saw the shoes sold out right after they became available, as shown by the official website. The website mentions a price of $499, but current Ebay listings for the limited orange edition range from $700 to $2,500. One peculiar listing is priced at $69,999, but it is largely an outlier.

The sneakers were listed shortly after Trump spoke at the Nashville Bitcoin 2024 conference, where he made the aforementioned statements. While a whois lookup shows that the domain selling the sneakers was registered by proxy, the footer notes that the “Trump and the associated design are registered trademarks of CIC Ventures LLC.”

Furthermore, the website also clarifies that “Trump Sneakers are not designed, manufactured, distributed or sold by Donald J. Trump" and adds that “45Footwear LLC uses the Trump name, image and likeness under a license agreement.”

The listings explain that the Trump sneakers are individually numbered and the supply is capped at 1,000 pairs.

The homepage for the Trump Sneakers reveals that out of the 1,000 units available, five randomly chosen sneakers will be autographed, presumably by Trump himself. Similarly, four units of the 1,000 Bitcoin orange low tops and fifteen of the 1,000 black high tops will receive the same treatment. Both of those cheaper versions are currently available for pre-order at a price of $299 each—and Bitcoin is accepted for payments.

The marketing material makes Bitcoin (BTC) a major area of its focus, noting that the shoes “celebrate the future of finance.”

“Perfect for crypto enthusiasts and Trump supporters alike, these limited-edition shoes are a must-have,” reads the listing.

The sneakers have a “Trump Crypto President” print on the side, just below a big Bitcoin logo. These initiatives follow Trump dramatically changing his stance on cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin.

As Decrypt recently reported, in 2021 Trump described Bitcoin as a “scam against the dollar” but now is presenting himself as the pro-crypto presidential candidate. On Saturday he promised to build a United States “strategic Bitcoin stockpile” and added that “those who say that Bitcoin is a threat to the dollar have the story exactly backwards.”

Edited by Stacy Elliott.

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