The former President of the United States made a re-entry on X, previously known as Twitter, marking his return since January 2021. He shared his mugshot, which has now become a source of memes created by various users. Since the sharing, Trump’s NFT collection has seen rapid price increases.
This surge followed the release of a photograph of the ex-president in connection with his criminal case in Georgia, where he was accused of attempting to undermine the integrity of the 2020 election and manipulate voter sentiment.
According to data obtained from the NFT marketplace OpenSea, the minimum price for Trump’s digital trading card collection, initially introduced in December 2022, witnessed a substantial surge of over 62%. It escalated from 0.138 to 0.224 Ether (ETH), reaching a value of $1,654 on August 24. This rise in value coincided with the public revelation of the former president’s mugshot. The image, depicting Trump’s stern expression as he surrendered at the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, quickly went viral as the first mugshot of a current or former U.S. president facing criminal charges.
Donald Trump, who had predominantly used his self-established Truth Social platform following his ban from X (then Twitter) in January 2021, and later reinstated by X CEO Elon Musk, broke his two-year silence on the platform with the posting of his mugshot.
The criminal case in Georgia alleged that Trump and 18 associates were involved in a racketeering scheme designed to manipulate voters’ choices, with the aim of securing his re-election as the U.S. president in 2020, despite losing to Joe Biden. The indictment was publicly disclosed on August 14, and all parties implicated were ordered to surrender to Georgia authorities before August 25.
Trump made his appearance on August 24 and was released on a $200,000 bond. However, he still faces federal charges in the District of Columbia for his alleged involvement in a scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election by manipulating fake electors. Additionally, he has been indicted in a case involving classified documents by the Justice Department, as well as a New York criminal case related to falsifying business records concerning a payment to Stormy Daniels, a porn star.
Although Trump expressed skepticism about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and others, stating that they were “based on thin air,” he held more than $2.8 million in an Ethereum wallet, as revealed by the nonprofit organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
During his tenure, President Biden took steps to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets through an executive order. However, his approach received criticism from various lawmakers and individuals in the field. In the wake of the public release of Trump’s mugshot, users on X quickly capitalized on the opportunity, creating memes by adding laser eyes to the image and making other alterations.
Despite being the leading contender for the Republican Party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election, Trump did not participate in the initial party debate on August 23 alongside other candidates. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, considered the primary Republican candidate after Trump according to many polls, pledged to outlaw central bank digital currencies if elected. Vivek Ramaswamy, who garnered significant attention online due to his debate performance, previously spoke at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami and described the 2024 election as a “referendum on fiat currency.”
