Floor prices for Donald Trump NFTs rise on news of possible indictment
A set of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) related to former US President Donald Trump has jumped over 30% in ether-denominated value over the past week, amid a possible indictment and arrest of the former president.
At the time of writing, the polygon-based Trump Digital Trading Cards were selling for over 0.59 Ether (ETH), rising from last week’s 0.33 ETH level. Over 735 Trump NFTs have been sold during this period, attracting 401 Ether in trading volume, according to data from NFT marketplace OpenSea.
The rally in NFT prices comes amid reports of Trump’s possible arrest. The former US president is expected to be indicted in the coming days, as Fox News first reported on March 17. It is unknown what the exact charges for the indictment are, as they will only be revealed when he appears in court.
It is believed that the allegations may stem from a hush money payment to adult actress Stormy Daniels at the height of the 2016 election, according to Fox News.
According to New York Times reporting, prosecutors are looking at two possible charges stemming from the incident: violating campaign finance laws and falsifying business documents as it was entered on Trump’s books as a payment to his lawyer for legal services. Theoretically, this could land Trump in prison for up to four years, although lawyers say it would be a difficult case to prosecute.
The New York Times also reports that Trump could face several other charges related to classified documents he illegally kept at Mar-a-Lago, and false statements he made about it afterward. There is also a chance that there could be charges related to the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill.
Trump released the collection of 45,000 fantasy cards last December for $99 each, featuring images of him in a style similar to baseball trading cards.
Collectors who buy one of the digital trading cards will automatically be entered into a “contest” to receive experiences with Trump, including a Zoom call, a dinner in Miami or a cocktail hour at Mar-a-Lago, as CoinDesk previously reported.
The cards were quickly sold out at the time. As of Thursday, data shows that wallet 0xfb65 has the highest individual Trump NFTs with 1,000 cards followed by 0x75d2 with 362 cards. Neither of the two entities have listed any of their NFTs for sale.
The decision to indict, and then arrest, the former president has not been finalized by the Manhattan District Attorney, although media reports — and Trump himself — have indicated that it is a sure thing.
Polymarket is a crypto gaming service that allows users to choose one of at least two options on given trades, such as election results.
There is currently $93,000 in volume and $11,000 in liquidity on this contract, making it one of PolyMarket’s more actively traded markets.
A contract asking if Trump will be arrested by May 31st currently has the Yes side trading at 87%, while another contract asking if Trump will be arrested by Friday 24th March has the No side at 85%.
If indicted, Trump would be the first US president to be indicted, but would not be the first president to be arrested as Ulysses S. Grant was arrested for speeding in 1872, according to the Washington Post.
