NFTs: the celebrity shopping spree
Celebrities buy NFTs. We analyze which are the ten most expensive NFTs bought by public figures.
Snoop Dogg takes the top spot in this ranking as he is the celebrity who bought the most expensive NFT, and pays $7,088,229 for “Right Click and Save As Guy.”
In addition, Snoop Dogg also spent the most money on a single NFT, according to a study of NFT purchases. In second place was Gary Veewho bought CryptoPunk #2140 for $3,953,216. Finally came in third place Justin Bieberwith a purchase of $1,301,550 for BAYC #3001.
The 2021/2022 study of NFT purchases by celebrities
CoinGecko, the world’s largest independent aggregator of cryptocurrency data, used transaction data from Open sea, SuperRareand Etherscan to find the most expensive NFTs bought by celebrities since the beginning of 2021.
The study looked at fifty different celebrities who would buy one or more NFTs, to find out who has spent the most money on NFTs.
Snoop Dogg
As previously expected, Snoop Doggthe American rapper and personality, takes the top spot with the purchase of Høyreklikk and Save as a Guy, which at the time of purchase reached a staggering $7,088,229 (1600 ETH).
The rapper bought the piece, listed on SuperRare by artist XCOPY, last December and added it to his ever-growing NFT collection.
After all, Snoop is no stranger to buying expensive digital artwork. Only last year he revealed that he was operating under the alias of wealthy NFT collector Cozomo De Medici.
Considered a “whale” among the cryptocurrency community, the rapper has a collection of valuable NFTs spread across multiple accounts. These include several CryptoPunks, Bored Ape and a second XCOPY piece that he bought for 3.9 million dollars.
Gary Vee
Serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchukcommonly called Gary Vee online, takes second place with the purchase of CryptoPunk #2140, which he bought for the impressive sum of $3,953,216 (1,600 ETH).
Despite transferring the same amount of Ethereum as Snoop Dogg’s purchase, Vee was an early adopter of the trend, buying this NFT five months earlier when Ether was valued at $2,470.76.
Vee is an avid collector and fan of NFTs: his OpenSea account indicates that he has purchased approx. 7000 NFTs from various projects.
He has amassed a cult following, in part due to the hype he generated in the crypto community, and later launched his own comic collection of NFTs called VeeFriends.
Justin Bieber
Pop music icon Justin Bieber takes third place with the purchase of Bored Ape Yacht Club #3001 for $1,301,550 (500 ETH) on 29 January 2022.
After the purchase was announced on Twitter, many users immediately mocked the celebrity, suggesting that he had paid too much for a monkey with ordinary features and characteristics.
In fact, the floor price of the NFT at the time of the sale was 104 ETH, or $270,908, meaning Bieber paid almost four times more than necessary to add it to his collection.
NFT shows a sad, unshaven monkey with dark brown fur, wearing a black T-shirt on a blue background.
Steve Aoki
American DJ and producer Steve Aoki takes fourth place with Doodle #2238, purchased for $862,056 (269.69 ETH) on January 7, 2022.
Following the purchase, Aoki stopped midway through one of his live performances to enthusiastically show fans the NFT, designed by Canadian illustrator Scott Martin.
Aoki also bought CryptoPunk #6473 for 65 ETH ($160,599) in July 2021, which he then sold for 300 ETH ($974,034) a few months later.
Logan Paul
Logan Paul, the YouTube character turned boxer, takes the fifth position with the purchase of K4M-1 #03 from the 0N1 Force collection. When he entered the NFT space in February 2021, he bought this NFT for the sum of $624,669 (188 ETH).
Logan is closely associated with Gary Vee and appears to have a fairly diverse portfolio of NFTs, with at least two accounts according to OpenSea. In fact, it exceeds his two biggest purchases 1 million dollars threshold when combined.
Neymar
Brazil and PSG superstar Neymar ranks sixth with the purchase of Bored Ape Yacht Club #5269 for $569,531 (ETH 189.69) on 20 January 2022.
Neymar bought Apes #5269 and #6633 from the BAYC collection on the same day for a total of 1.05 million dollars. The footballer made BAYC #6633 his Twitter profile picture shortly after the purchase.
Marshmello
Masked electronic music producer Marshmello takes seventh place, buying CryptoPunk #8274 for $504,069 (130 ETH) on 19 October 2021.
Marshmello appears to own a few cryptocurrency wallets, but his most valuable NFTs are in his OpenSea account.itsmarshmello.”
Madonna
Pop legend Madonna ranks eighth, with his purchase of Bored Ape Yacht Club #4988, purchased for $466,461 (180 ETH) on 14 March 2022.
In addition to owning several NFTs, Madonna has created her own digital art collection titled “Mother of Creation.” These three NFTs were created in collaboration with renowned artist Beeple and feature a nude, computer-rendered version of the singer interacting with the natural world. Despite causing some controversy due to the bizarre nature of the content, one of the pieces was sold in May this year for the incredible sum of 170.5 ETH – about $350,000 at the time of purchase.
Eminem
American rapper Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, takes ninth place with the purchase of Bored Ape Yacht Club #9055, paid $453,776 (123.45 ETH) Dec 31, 2021. Eminem bought the monkey, which looks a bit like himself, from Twitter user @gee_gazza. NFT shows a monkey with white fur on a gray background wearing a gold jacket and chain and a box-shaped military hat similar to the rapper.
Tom Brady
Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady rounds out the top ten with the purchase of Bored Ape Yacht Club #3667, paid $453,062 (133 ETH) 5 Apr 2022. Brady’s Bored Ape wears a World War II pilot’s helmet and smokes a cigarette against a military green background.
The NFL veteran is one of many famous athletes to have purchased an NFT, including Shaquille O’Neal, Steph Curry and LaMelo Ball.
CoinGecko COO and co-founder Bobby Ong noted:
“Celebrities buying NFTs is proof of how NFTs have begun to intertwine with popular mainstream culture,” observed COO and Co-Founder of CoinGecko, Bobby Ong. “Whether for investment purposes, used as a social signal or a means of gaining access to exclusive communities, the NFT sector has high growth potential that remains largely untapped today.”
