After Manhattan Indictment, Trump's NFT Trading Cards See Sharp Rise In Value – Here's Why

Digital trading cards tied to Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, have seen a spike in price following news that a grand jury in Manhattan voted to indict him.According to NFT data aggregator NFTPriceFloor, the floor price of Trump's NFTs currently sets at 0.499 ETH, or over $900 at current rates. In comparison, the cards were initially priced at $99 and dropped to as low as 0.02 ETH (around $35) in late December last year. The NFT collection has also seen a surge in trading volume. On March 31, one day after the former president was indicted, the trading volume of his digital cards spiked to 87 ETH (around $160,000), compared to 34 ETH the earlier day. Trump's NFTs had an average sale of 0.4555 ETH, or roughly $800 — down by more than 16% in the last 24 hours. The highest sale soared to 0.9298 ETH, which equates to nearly $1,700 — an increase of 23% in the same period, according to the site. As reported, the former president released its collection of NFTs, dubbed "Trump Cards," in December last year. The NFT collection features a series of digital "cards" depicting Trump in various iconic poses and situations, which include Trump as a muscle-bound wrestling champion, Trump holding a basketball, and even Trump in space. "These limited edition cards feature amazing ART of my Life & Career!" he said at the time, adding that the cards, costing $99 (£81) each, "would make a great Christmas gift." There were a total of 45,000 NFTs, all minted on Polygon, a layer-two scaling solution that runs alongside the Ethereum blockchain and allows for speedy transactions and low fees. Trump Indicted on Criminal ChargesOn March 30, Trump was indicted on criminal charges by a New York grand jury in a first for a former US president. The exact nature of the charges is still unclear because the indictment remains under seal, but they stem from payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter. More specifically, Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, allegedly sent $130,000 in hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels back in 2106. Daniels claims to have had an affair with Trump, which he denies, along with the allegations that he was involved in paying her to keep quiet.Furthermore, Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud in the indictment, CNN reported, adding that the former president is expected to be arraigned in Manhattan criminal court next Tuesday.Meanwhile, in a recent statement, Trump attacked District Attorney Alvin Bragg and other Democrats following news of the indictment. “I believe this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden,” the former president said in a statement Thursday. “The American people realize exactly what the Radical Left Democrats are doing here. Everyone can see it. So our Movement, and our Party – united and strong – will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”