Trump’s indictment boosts sales of his NFT collection

Former President Donald Trump’s NFT collection — released in December to bipartisan ridicule — saw a bump in sales and interest after he was criminally indicted in New York on Thursday.

Around midday Friday, the “Trump Digital Trading Cards” collection — which depict him as Superman, a soldier, a wrestler, a football player, and other personas — saw a 21% jump in its floor price over the last 24 hours, according to NFT Price Floor, which tracks sales for the crypto tokens.

Floor price measures the cost of the least expensive listed NFT in the collection on the secondary market. Currently, that’s equivalent to about $1,000 for the Trump collection.

Secondary sales activity for the Trump NFTs was also up 450% in the last 24 hours, according to CryptoSlam. It reported over 180 transactions in 24 hours, totaling over $186,000 in sales.

Trump launched the NFTs late last year after teasing a “MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT.” Figures on the right and the left mocked the NFT line, in part due to the infomercial-like launch video and the poor quality of the editing on the trading cards.

The 45,000 available NFTs were sold at $99 each. Trump said people who buy them will be entered into a sweepstakes for a chance to meet him at Mar-A-Lago among other prizes. Those who buy 45 NFTs would “get a guaranteed ticket” to attend a gala dinner with Trump, the sale promised.

The money generated from the NFTs won’t go to Trump’s campaign, the website for the collection stated. Rather, it benefits a private enterprise run by a company called “NFT INT LLC,” which has a license to use Trump’s likeness and image but is “not owned, managed or controlled” by Trump or the Trump Organization.

The NFTs initially performed poorly, data shows, but heading into the new year, sales picked up as interest in Trump, his 2024 presidential campaign, and his legal challenges increased.

• On the stock market, shares of businesses with ties to Trump — including the company looking to take Trump’s social media platform Truth Social public — also made gains on Friday, Reuters reported.