It appears to be official: Donald Trump’s NFTs are plunging, with hype dying down and a drop of about 70%. 

Last week, Donald Trump’s first official NFT collection was the news of the moment in the cryptocurrency world, captivating the people on Twitter.

In any case, after prices and trading volume rose over the weekend, both metrics fell sharply as the enthusiasm around the former US president’s project is apparently waning.

Donald Trump’s digital trading cards, minted on Polygon‘s scaling network, peaked on Saturday 17 December, with a trading volume of more than $3.5 million, according to CryptoSlam data. 

Moreover, the selling price rose even higher on Sunday, with NFTs selling for an average of just over $680 each, although total volume fell to nearly $1.95 million on the day.

Donald Trump’s NFTs in free fall: was it just initial enthusiasm? 

Despite the initial success of Donald Trump’s NFTs, it appears that on Monday daily trading fell 57% to about $836,000 of ETH, with the average selling price dropping to about $466. However, these days, the cheapest Trump NFT available for sale on the main OpenSea market is trading at only 0.21 ETH, or about $255.

Specifically, Trump launched its digital trading card NFTs last Thursday, with 44,000 NFTs sold for $99 each in the primary sale.

Buyers were incentivized by the chance to win a meeting or dinner with the former president, among other potential perks. Another 1,000 NFTs were retained by the project creators, for a total supply of 45,000.

And despite widespread teasing and criticism of the project, which included some of Trump’s supporters, the project sold out within 24 hours and fueled secondary market demand. Since then, the project has accumulated secondary transactions worth more than $8.7 million.

Momentum peaked over the weekend, with the lowest price, or cheapest listed NFT, reaching 0.84 ETH (about $990) on Saturday. 

Prices rose and fell in a volatile market before the NFTs were made fun of NBC’s late-night comedy show, Saturday Night Live. Three days later, the minimum price dropped 74% when measured in USD.

Trump’s digital trading card project is ranked only 10th on CryptoSlam’s list of top-selling projects in the last 24 hours. 

It has about $472,000 in sales during that time frame, while the Bored Ape Yacht Club tops the list with $3.8 million in NFT sales.

Why have Trump Digital Trading Cards been criticized? 

Besides being a combination of already divisive topics- Trump and NFTs – the project has also been criticized for apparently using stolen artwork for some of its cards. In addition, the 1,000 NFTs kept by the project’s creators appear to contain a disproportionate amount of “rare” collectibles, prompting further skepticism from NFT observers.

Still, digital collectibles have crept into the cultural spotlight Saturday night as an object of satire on the late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live. 

Last night’s episode, in fact, opened with a skit by comedian James Austin Johnson, who mimicked the former president’s announcement unveiling digital collectibles.

In Johnson’s portrayal of Trump, referring to NFTs by their “technical term” as “Nifties,” the comedian said: 

“Sounds like a scam, and in many ways it is, but we love Trump cards.”

Johnson also referred to ongoing investigations surrounding Trump, such as his alleged mishandling of classified information, during the comedian’s satirical promotion of digital collectibles.

Also, lifting a box full of documents labeled “classified,” the comedian said: 

“The best part is that each card has an automatic chance to win an exclusive mystery prize where you can pick anything from this cool box.”