The reserve price for the officially licensed Trump digital trading card non-fungible token (NFT) project has surged following news that a New York grand jury voted to indict former President Donald Trump on March 30.
NFT traders appear to have been spurred into action by the announcement, with the lowest price rising from 0.46 ether Or up to 0.6 ETH ($1090) on the same day at the current price of $835. At the time of writing, the floor price has fallen back to around 0.51 ETH. That price is still well above the initial minting price of $99 in December.
NFT transaction volume in the first quarter of 2023 was $4.7 billion, more than double the previous quarter, according to a March 30 report from blockchain analytics platform DappRadar. The firm pointed to the bullish behavior in the Blur market, which swept the market during the token airdrop farming in February.
The $4.7 billion came from the sale of 19.4 million NFTs in the first quarter, an increase of 8.56%, and a total increase of 147% compared to the $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022. The Ethereum network contributed a whopping $4.1 billion in transaction volume, followed by Solana in second place with $242 million, and Polygon in third place with $85 million in the quarter. Square Enix, the Japanese gaming giant behind the hugely popular Final Fantasy series, has released NFT trading cards to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII.
These NFTs are part of the Final Fantasy VII Anniversary Art Museum Digital Card Plus Collection, a collection of five physical cards and a sixth digital NFT card. However, despite being called trading cards, Square Enix states on its website that NFTs cannot be traded or transferred at this stage unless the company decides to create a marketplace in the future.
"If we decide to support the marketplace in the future, we will let you know," the website reads. The packs, which go on sale March 31 for around $3.30 each, feature card illustrations depicting various characters and scenes from the iconic Final Fantasy VII game.
While it's unclear if the company intends to build a marketplace to support its digital collectibles, Square Enix has been gradually ramping up its NFT and blockchain gaming-related initiatives over the past few years, suggesting something may be afoot . Argentine low-cost airline Flybondi has launched domestic NFT tickets under a program called “Ticket 3.0.”
According to a rough translation of the company's March 29 announcement, users of the new service will be able to directly change the name on a ticket, transfer it to someone else or give it away, radically simplifying the company's current ticketing model. Flybondi CEO Mauricio Sana noted: "With Ticket 3.0, our passengers will have greater flexibility and control over their travel as they will be able to transfer, rename or gift their tickets in an easy and autonomous way tickets,” he added:
"With this launch, we seek to positively impact the aviation industry through innovation and the application of blockchain technology." The move comes on the heels of an expanded partnership with NFT ticketing company TravelX, which launched late last year and leverages the Algorand blockchain for tokenization
