Trump NFTs Pump After Indictment, First Quarter Trading Volume Hits $4.7 Billion and More
Following the news that a New York grand jury voted to indict former President Donald Trump on March 30, the minimum price for the officially licensed Trump Digital Trading Cards nonfungible token (NFT) project was 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.
When the project launched in December 2022, it offered exclusive one-on-one experiences to certain NFT hodlers, such as private golf sessions, dinners and conversations with Trump.
The news of the indictment could potentially affect the former president’s ability to deliver on his experience.
At the time of writing, the floor price has since fallen back to around the 0.51 ETH range. The price is still well above the starting price of $99 from December.
NFT sales reached $4.7 billion in the first quarter
According to a March 30 report from blockchain analytics platform DappRadar, there was $4.7 billion worth of NFT trading volume in Q1 2023, more than double the previous quarter.
The firm pointed to bullish action from the Blur marketplace, which took the market by storm during its token airdrop breeding period in February.
The $4.7 billion came from 19.4 million NFT sales in Q1, marking an increase of 8.56%, with a total increase of 147% compared to $1.9 billion in Q4 2022.
The Ethereum network accounted for a whopping $4.1 billion of the volume, with second-place Solana contributing $242 million, while Polygon 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 are 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 could not 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 whether the firm intends to build a marketplace to support its digital collectibles, Square Enix has been gradually increasing its NFT and blockchain game-related initiatives over the past few 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 a March 29 announcement from the firm, users of the new service will be able to directly rename tickets, transfer them to others 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 from 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.”
