Trump NFTs Pump After Indictment, First Quarter Trading Volume Hits $4.7 Billion and More…
Curiously, after the news of a New York grand jury voting to indict former President Donald Trump on March 30, the minimum price for the officially licensed Trump Digital Trading Cards NFT project pumped.
According to data from OpenSea, NFT traders were apparently spurred into action by the announcement, with the floor price moving from 0.46 Ether (ETH) or $835 at current prices, to as high as 0.6 ETH ($1,090) on the same day.
It’s worth noting that when the project launched in December, it offered exclusive one-on-one experiences to certain NFT hodlers, such as private golf sessions, dinners and conversations with Trump.
Given the indictment news, it could potentially have an impact on the forty-five’s potential to deliver on such experiences.
At the time of writing, the floor price has since fallen back to around the 0.51 range. The price is still well above the starting price of $99 from December.
NFT sales reached $4.7 billion in Q1
According to a March 30 report from blockchain analytics platform DappRadar, there was $4.7 billion worth of NFT trading volume in Q1, more than double the previous quarter.
The firm pointed to bullish action coming from the Blur marketplace in particular, which took the market by storm in February during its token airdrop breeding period.
The $4.7 billion came from a total of 19.4 million NFT sales in Q1, marking an increase of 8.56%, while total volume increased by 147% compared to $1.9 billion in Q4 2022.
The Ethereum network accounted for a whopping $4.1 billion of the volume, with second-placed Solana contributing $242 million, while Polygon notably ranked third with $85 million for the quarter.
Square Enix is dropping Final Fantasy NFT trading cards
Square Enix, the Japanese gaming giant behind the popular Final Fantasy series, has released NFT trading cards to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII.
The NFTs come as part of the Final Fantasy VII Anniversary Art Museum Digital Card Plus collection, which contains five physical cards and a sixth digital NFT card.
Despite being called trading cards, Square Enix stated on its website that the NFTs cannot actually be traded or transferred at this stage, unless the company decides to build a marketplace in the future.
“If we decide to support the marketplace in the future, we will notify you,” the site says.
Dropping on March 31st, the packs cost around $3.30 a pop, with the card artwork depicting various characters and scenes from the iconic Final Fantasy VII game.
While it’s unclear if the firm intends to build a marketplace to support its digital collectibles, Square Enix has been gradually ramping up its NFT and blockchain game-related initiatives over the past couple of years, suggesting something may be afoot.
NFT flight tickets
Argentinian low-cost airline Flybondi has launched domestic NFT flight tickets under an initiative called “Ticket 3.0.”
According to a rough translation of an announcement from the firm on March 29, users of the new service will be able to rename tickets directly, transfer them to other people or give them away, essentially streamlining the firm’s current ticketing models.
“With Ticket 3.0, our passengers will have greater flexibility and control over their trips because they will be able to transfer, rename or give away their tickets in a simple and autonomous way,” noted Flybondi CEO Mauricio Sana, adding:
“With this launch, we seek to generate a positive impact in the aviation industry through innovation and the use of blockchain technology.”
The move comes as part of an expanded partnership with NFT ticketing company TravelX, which launched late last year and uses the Algorand blockchain for its tokenization.
Other good news:
Wakweli, a Web3 infrastructure protocol that issues certificates of authenticity, has officially partnered with layer-2 scaling platform Polygon to enable NFT authentication.
On March 27, US ticketing company Ticketmaster announced a new feature – token-gated ticketing – that allows artists to reward NFT holders with exclusive benefits, including “special advance sales, premium seats, customized travel packages and access to unique concert experiences.”
