The Monopoly game "old fan" Trump enters the blockchain game, making another move in the crypto track

Author: Zen, PANews

Known for his "businessman mindset," U.S. President Donald Trump has ventured into various fields throughout his career, including real estate, reality TV, vodka, mortgages, the NFL, aviation, bottled water, steaks, and even board games. His business empire is also expanding into the cryptocurrency industry—after establishing a presence in NFTs, DeFi, stablecoins, memecoins, and crypto mining, Trump is now reaching into the realm of blockchain gaming.

According to Fortune magazine, citing two informed sources, Trump is collaborating with business partner Bill Zanker to prepare a real estate-themed crypto game centered around his brand, with gameplay similar to Monopoly Go!. For this "veteran enthusiast" who launched a similar Monopoly board game thirty years ago, the release of a digital version of Monopoly, backed by blockchain and cryptocurrency, is both surprising and expected, indeed bringing a wave of excitement to the long-dormant blockchain gaming sector.

Real Estate Tycoon Trump: A "veteran fan" of Monopoly

In May 1989, Donald Trump collaborated with the classic board game company Milton Bradley to launch the board game Trump: The Game, inspired by Monopoly and Trump's own career as a real estate mogul. Milton Bradley, then president of the company, stated that the game was set against a backdrop of high-stakes gambling, trading, and Trump's bestselling book The Art of the Deal, released in 1987. Trump also filmed television commercials for the game, promoting the slogan "It's not about winning or losing, it's about winning!"

During a promotional event before the official release of Trump: The Game, Trump announced that he would donate an undisclosed portion of the game's revenue to charity for research on cerebral palsy and AIDS, as well as to help the homeless. The game, priced at $25, was initially projected by Trump and Milton Bradley to sell 2 million copies, but ultimately only sold 800,000, far below expectations.

The reasons for this are twofold: on one hand, the game was directly named after Trump, making it easy to be perceived as a money-making tool for the wealthy, with the public unaware that part of the proceeds would go to charity; on the other hand, misleading marketing led it to be seen as a knockoff of Monopoly. Trump believed the main reason was that the game's design was too complex, with a rulebook exceeding 12 pages, lacking mass appeal. Despite later advertisements stating, "Mr. Trump will donate the proceeds from Trump: The Game to charity," the game's sales remained sluggish. Additionally, a 2016 report from The Huffington Post stated that Trump's claims of donating game revenue to charity could not be verified, and Trump and related entities declined to comment.

In 2004, after the success of Trump's reality show The Apprentice, Parker Brothers re-released Trump: The Game. The new version introduced Trump's classic catchphrase from The Apprentice: "You're fired!" and featured the slogan "It takes smarts to make a million, but it takes Trump to make billions." However, even with Trump's celebrity effect, this rehashed game ultimately received a lukewarm response.

It is worth noting that Milton Bradley was acquired by toy and entertainment giant Hasbro in 1984 and merged with another Hasbro subsidiary, Parker Brothers, in 1998. The brand was later abandoned in 2009 in favor of the parent company's name, ultimately rebranded as Hasbro Gaming. Therefore, the IP for this Trump-licensed board game should belong to Hasbro.

"I have always thought Monopoly is a great game, and many people are interested in it." In 2006, Trump, a "true fan" of Monopoly, attempted to launch a primetime reality show based on the game. Trump was set to collaborate with documentary producer RJ Cutler, with Hasbro as a partner in the project. However, the plan quietly fell through during the development stage, with no television network buying it, and no official program name or episode count announced.

Returning to the Monopoly Board After More Than Thirty Years, Now Based on Crypto Technology

Now, Trump is returning to the Monopoly board, but this time he is bringing it to the blockchain.

According to Fortune, multiple sources have revealed that Trump is working with his business confidant Bill Zanker to develop a crypto-based real estate-themed game, expected to launch at the end of April this year. The game is an adaptation of MONOPOLYGO! (Monopoly Go!), where players move pieces on a virtual Monopoly board and build structures in a digital city to earn game currency.

Informed sources indicate that Zanker is the driving force behind this blockchain gaming project and initially planned to launch it before the inauguration of the 47th president. Zanker is considered Trump's "guide" into the cryptocurrency industry, having repeatedly suggested the NFT project to Trump.

Zanker recalled that when he suggested Trump launch NFTs in early 2022, Trump was intrigued by the idea of "former president art image NFTs" but was reluctant to use the term "NFT," preferring to call it "digital trading cards on the computer." By the end of that year, Zanker pushed the idea again, and Trump readily agreed: "Many friends say I shouldn't do it, but I like it, so let's go for it."

In Trump's memecoin project TRUMP, Zanker also plays a crucial role. According to the memecoin's website, the remaining tokens after the TRUMP token ICO are held by CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC, accounting for 80% of the total supply. Zanker is listed as the primary contact in the registration documents for "Fight Fight Fight LLC."

Regarding the specific details of the crypto gaming project, Zanker's spokesperson Kevin Mercuri only revealed that they are developing a "game." Mercuri denied claims that the game would bear any resemblance to Monopoly Go, stating that such information is merely "rumors." Previously, the entity responsible for Trump's trademarks, DTTM Operations, applied to extend Trump's name to various virtual products and NFT-related services. However, Mercuri refused to disclose whether these trademark applications are directly related to the project or how blockchain functionality would be integrated into the gameplay.

Additionally, whether the upcoming blockchain game will be based on the already released Trump: The Game, which has been around for over 30 years, remains uncertain.

According to sources, last May, Zanker contacted Hasbro, hoping to repurchase the IP for Trump: The Game. However, Hasbro informed Zanker that it no longer owned the rights to the game, which has been around for over 30 years. Nevertheless, a spokesperson for Hasbro, the original developer of the Monopoly board game, stated that the company has not licensed the Monopoly IP to Trump's organization for cryptocurrency investment.