The arrest of former US President Donald Trump has sent shockwaves through the political world, but it has also had an unexpected impact on the world of digital art.
Trump’s NFT collection has seen a surge in interest in the wake of his court appearance, with over 60 digital trading cards featuring the controversial billionaire sold on the popular NFT marketplace OpenSea within 12 hours of his arrest.
Reports indicate that the most expensive purchase was a card featuring Trump holding a rifle and wearing an orange hat, which was sold for 0.697 ETH (approximately $1,333 USD) to a buyer known as paraguanads.eth. Most buyers spent around 0.5 ETH to acquire cryptographic images of Trump posing against various backgrounds.
It’s interesting to note that despite his previous criticism of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, Trump launched his own personal NFT collection in late 2022.
The NFTs, are essentially unique digital assets that are verified on the blockchain, allowing purchasers to own a piece of digital art featuring the former president. Buyers also have the opportunity to meet Trump, and those who purchase all 45 NFTs in the collection can have dinner with him.
The recent surge in sales of Trump’s NFT collection can be attributed to the news that American prosecutors have indicted him on 34 counts of fraud related to hush-money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Daniels claimed to have had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2016 and that he paid her $130,000 to keep it a secret.
