Considering the PR power that celebrities wield and considering also that the marketability of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is in no small way related to the relationship between buyers and the famous people who have interacted with those digital objects, it should come as no surprise that celebrities often have an enormous stake in the NFT market. Mostly, you’ll hear about the celebrities who sell NFTs, something they can often easily do, their names alone driving value to incredible heights. What you tend to hear less about, however, are those celebrities who buy NFTs. However, this is also big business. The basic essence of making a profit out of any investment is to buy something, allow for that thing to increase in value, and then sell it at a higher price. As a celebrity this is something that can be done very easily, because once an NFT has been owned by you, your name and fame then adds to its value, and many celebrities have been observant enough to capitalize on this.
1. Snoop Dogg
@cozomoMedici is an NFT booster on twitter, who in September of 2021 was revealed to be none other than the renowned rapper Snoop Dogg. Along with famously buying Fidenza 938 for the sum of 2500 ETH (ethereum, a cryptocurrency), i.e. roughly eight and a half million dollars, Snoop Dogg also sells his own NFTs. In a journey with the Dogg, Snoop Dogg digitizes memories from his career, which are then stored in blockchains immortalizing the very data used to record them. In total, Snoop Dogg’s NFT portfolio is one of the most expensive in the world estimated in the region of around 20 million dollars.
2. & 3. Gwyneth Paltrow & Mila Kunis
An interesting narrative in the world of NFT celebrity investors is that of Gwyneth Paltrow and Mila Kunis, who in January of this year took to Zoom to encourage women to take to the crypto marketplace to buy NFTs, in a digital world that is currently very male dominated. “We are so conditioned as women to be risk-averse”, Kunis said. “I want to take risks and I want to see what happens”. What is so interesting about this is the fact that NFTs, as an investment, are particularly risky, as unlike cars or property, there is little legal protection to be offered owners to prevent copyright infringements. The idea here, therefore, seemed to be to encourage female entrepreneurship, in which the ability trust in one’s own gut instincts and take risks are a necessary part of the game.
4. Justin Bieber
Bored ape yacht club, an NFT collection of algorithm generated cartoon primate profile pictures created by the infamous “Gargamel” and “Gordon Goner”, has changed hands more times than most, having had celebrity owners including Snoop Dogg, Jimmy Fallon, Eminem, Madonna, Neymar, Paris Hilton, Tom Brady, Timbaland and DJ Steve Aoki. Justin Bieber famously bought the crypto artwork for an enormous 500 ethereum, at the time around 1.29 million dollars. More recently, he bought another batch for $470,000.
5. Mark Cuban
By far the largest collector of NFTs in the world is without a doubt the celebrity entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who’s NFT portfolio alone is worth over half a billion dollars. Cuban quickly saw the potential of NFTs in their capacity to earn a seller royalty when it gets resold. Unsurprisingly, he is one of the most influential of NFT proponents.