Donald Trump NFTs Up Bigly After Indicted Former Pres. Skips GOP Debate

The price of ex-President Donald Trump’s digital trading cards spiked following a Wednesday interview with conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson. 

Trump skipped the GOP debate last night, instead choosing to slag off his rivals on the  former Fox News host’s Twitter channel. 

Data from the OpenSea marketplace shows it benefitted holders of his NFT trading cards: Trading volume is up 256% in the past 24 hours, standing at 14,320 Ethereum ($23.5 million), while the floor price jumped by 25% to now stand at 0.1369 Ethereum, or $225. 

Sales in the last 24 hours have jumped 220%. But there’s a catch: The price jump is mostly due to the activity of two wallets snapping up the NFTs. 

NFT prices can shoot up and down—just like with any digital asset prices—when a bigger player gets involved and moves markets. Earlier this month, the price of Ethereum NFT profile picture (PFP) collection DeGods plunged after a single wallet dumped 200 of the NFTs. 

Trump, who is the GOP’s favorite for the American presidential election next year, launched his NFT trading cards—minted on Polygon—back in December because he thought the artwork was “sort of cute” and “might sell.” 

The digital cards feature illustrations of Trump—sometimes comically reimagined as a superhero or cowboy. 

There was fervent interest in the cards after they first launched, then buyers lost enthusiasm and now they keep bouncing in price and volume whenever something happens to the ex-reality TV show star—including negative news like his historic indictment.

NFTs—tokens that are linked to digital (and sometimes physical) things, like art or music—blew up in 2021. 

But since the crypto market has entered a bear market, interest in the assets has waned.