BAYC NFT Price Plunges 99% After Justin Bieber Buy
Justin Bieber bought Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT #3001 in January 2022 for 500 ETH (about $1.3M then). The article says the BAYC floor later collapsed to roughly 5.25–6 ETH by April 2026, implying a value near $12,000—around a 99% drawdown versus the purchase price.
The piece explains why Bieber paid a premium in 2022: BAYC was marketed as a “digital black card” and a potential store-of-value, with added celebrity FOMO. It also highlights market-structure issues: NFT liquidity is thinner than tokens on major exchanges, and pure PFP demand weakened as sentiment shifted toward “utility-based NFTs” (gaming/identity).
Similar revaluations are cited for celebrity holders—Eminem (~-83%) and Stephen Curry (~-53%). While Yuga Labs keeps building Otherside, the article argues early buyers face a hard path to break-even.
For traders, the key takeaway is that BAYC NFTs repriced far more than BTC/ETH during the NFT hype cycle, signaling that NFTs can suffer sharper risk-off moves when liquidity and sentiment deteriorate.
Bearish
This news is bearish for the broader sentiment around BAYC-style NFTs, because it underscores a near-total drawdown from the 2022 purchase and points to structural reasons: lower liquidity, weaker PFP demand, and a market shift toward “utility” rather than pure profile-image hype. Short-term, such stories can suppress bids and keep secondary-market floors under pressure. Long-term, even continued development from Yuga Labs (e.g., Otherside) may not quickly restore valuations for early entrants if liquidity and buyer appetite do not return. Since the article frames NFT repricing as much harsher than BTC/ETH during risk-off periods, traders should expect higher volatility and slower recovery dynamics for BAYC rather than a rapid mean reversion.