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The value of digital trading cards issued by Donald Trump soared on Thursday after the former president was arrested in Georgia and his mugshot was released for the first time.
Trump turned himself in to Fulton County Jail in Atlanta after pleading guilty to 13 counts related to illegal claims made during an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state of Georgia. The former prime minister and current contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination has staunchly denied any wrongdoing, claiming the allegations against him are part of a “witch hunt.”
In December 2022, Trump sold a set of 45,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for $99 each, depicting himself in various heroic poses. Each NFT is recorded on a blockchain, which is essentially a large immutable database that operates on a vast network of computers, meaning it cannot be copied or sub-divided. The digital artwork pieces, which sold out within hours of release, depict Trump as a superhero, sheriff, astronaut, and NASCAR driver.
Each Trump token was worth 0.137 of the digital currency ethereum at 0:01 a.m. ET on Thursday, according to OpenC, a website that claims to be the world’s “largest digital marketplace” for NFTs, which equates to about $181. .
However, by 11:00 a.m. ET, following Trump’s arrest and the release of his mugshot, it had risen to 0.223 Ethereum, or approximately $294. It later fell back slightly to 0.189 ETH ($249) by 9:30 a.m. Friday, but remains well above its opening point. Thursday’s increase in value in particular was the most dramatic increase ever recorded by Trump NFTs over the past two months.
newsweek has contacted Trump for comment via the press inquiry form on its official website.
Former US President Donald Trump speaks to the media at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport after being wheeled into the Fulton County Jail on August 24, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. A series of Trump NFTs increased significantly in value after his booking mugshot was released. Joe Radle/Gettyview
Following his arrest, Trump first posted on X, formerly called Twitter, since he was banned from the platform on January 6, 2021, after hundreds of his supporters stormed Congress.
The former president shared a copy of his arrest mugshot, which read “Election interference” and “Never surrender!” With a link to donate. Trump’s post went viral on Twitter, garnering over 269,000 reposts and 1.1 million likes.
Speaking to the conservative network Newsmax after his release, Trump described his time at the Fulton County Jail as a “terrible experience”.
He said: “I came in, I was treated very well but that’s it. I took a mugshot, I’d never heard the word mugshot, they didn’t teach it at the Wharton School of Finance.
“It’s a very sad experience and it’s a very sad day for our country.”
Trump’s booking process took about 20 minutes, after which he was released on $200,000 bond. The jail recorded him as a six-foot-three-inch white male weighing 215 pounds, with hair of a “blonde or strawberry” color.
The release of Trump’s mugshot sparked a wave of jokes and memes on social media, with a Democratic congressman releasing a 39-second clip of himself laughing and calling the former president a “clown! Thug! Crook! Criminal!”
Trump also faces separate charges of making secret payments to a porn actress, mishandling classified documents and attempting to illegally overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory nationwide. Is falling He has pleaded innocent to all the charges, which the former president says are politically motivated. Trump has yet to be convicted of any crime, despite members of Congress calling him a “criminal”.