Donald Trump’s NFT prices rise as indictment nears

Prices for Donald Trump’s digital “trading cards” are soaring following calls by the former president for supporters to take to the streets in protest ahead of his likely impeachment in New York City this week.

The former president — who is currently facing a Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into whether he illegally paid two former sexual partners for their silence during the 2016 presidential election — launched the trading cards in the form of “non-fungible tokens” in December. NFTs include any digital art with a unique signature on a blockchain or database. The launch drew criticism and disappointment from a number of his supporters who felt he was not taking the burgeoning 2024 campaign seriously enough.

However, all 45,000 of the $99-a-piece trading cards released — depicting Trump’s face Photoshopped into a series of hyper-masculine and patriotic scenes — quickly sold out at launch, with prices fluctuating at a rapid pace.

In addition to their intrinsic value, the cards were also sold with the option for buyers to receive benefits such as dinner or even a personal meet-and-greet with Trump. Starting this week, Trump’s vendor on NFT marketplace OpenSea, Trump Deployer, sold tickets on the platform for buyers to join a group Zoom call with the former president, with prices ranging between $25 and $88.

However, the trading cards were among Trump’s most lucrative products on the digital platform.

On December 17, two days after the launch of the NFT series, the trading card floor price on OpenSea topped 0.82 Ethereum, equivalent to around $999. The following week, the floor price stood at 0.23 ETH, or around $280, before falling to a price of approximately 0.212 ETH in early January.

Since then, the price of Trump’s NFT trading card has ranged as high as 0.68 ETH – just over $1,776 USD – to as low as 0.42 ETH (or $722) earlier this month. However, since the news of Trump’s impending arrest last week, the floor price of Trump’s NFTs has increased by more than 32 percent, with OpenSea data showing that the total number of sales has increased by double-digit percentages.

Newsweek has contacted Trump’s NFT company for comment.

The price increases in the NFTs come as Trump has called for civil disobedience and protests ahead of his potential impeachment, which media reports say is likely to come as soon as Tuesday. There has been no official word from the district attorney’s office about the charges or arrest of Trump.

Over the weekend, Trump lashed out at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, saying he should instead be arrested for the crime of “interfering in a presidential election.” In a message to supporters over the weekend, Trump sought to raise money for his campaign after his possible arrest with a video message on his donation page in which he vowed to “never surrender.”

“The radical left Democrats think they can bury me and endless witch hunts and malicious attacks,” Trump said. “They’ve been after us for years and we haven’t given an inch and we will every single time. But let me be as clear as possible. I will never surrender and you will never surrender.”