(Bloomberg) —
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Being associated with former U.S. President Donald Trump is proving a successful way to be minted as a meme stock.
Shares in Creatd Inc. more than doubled in U.S. premarket trading after the company announced a new non-fungible token art drop through its OG Gallery unit consisting of three photographs of Trump. The NFT includes “three candid images of a young Donald Trump, captured as he signs the breast of a model,” Creatd said.
Around 9.1 million shares had been traded by 7:23 a.m. in New York, compared to a 12-month daily average of around 1.8 million. The stock, which gained as much as 129% premarket, and the NFT are being discussed on Reddit and StockTwits.
This followed news on Friday that Creatd’s WHE Agency has signed TikTok creator Alexis LaRue. The shares closed 41% higher that day.
Meme World
Creatd becomes part of a growing number of retail-trader favorites linked to Trump. Last week, there was a retail-trading frenzy around Digital World Acquisition Corp., a blank-check company that is set to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group to create a new social media platform called Truth Social. Digital World shares jumped more than 800% in the two sessions following the announcement.
A second blank-check company, Benessere Capital Acquisition, jumped as much as 70% in premarket trading on Monday. Both companies are run by Patrick Orlando, a former Deutsche Bank AG derivatives trader who co-founded a sugar-trading company before more recently embracing SPACs.
Then there is Phunware Inc. a software company that worked on Trump’s re-election campaign. Its shares rose 471% on Friday and remained very active in U.S. premarket trading on Monday.
(Updates to add other Trump-tied stocks in final two paragraphs.)
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