The Most Popular And Ridiculous NFTs Are Now Almost Completely Worthless
It goes without saying that if you want to make risky financial investments, then you should probably do your homework first. We’re talking, of course, about the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of lethargic simians known as Bored Apes. Futurism reports that the once lucrative collection of Bored Apes NFTs has tanked in value, seeing a 93 percent drop since its peak in April 2022.
Bored Apes, or the Bored Ape Yacht Club as it is commonly known, was launched by Yuga Labs in 2021, and sold digital renderings of cartoon apes on the Ethereum blockchain for a significant amount of money. Investors were granted access to a membership club called THE BATHROOM, a shared digital canvas that its creators likened to a bathroom at a dive bar.
Bored Apes NFTs have tanked in value, seeing a 93 percent drop since its peak in April 2022.
As for the name “Bored Apes,” founder Wylie Aronow (under the pseudonym Gordon Goner) explained that the name took inspiration from the phrase “aping in,” a phrase in the cryptocurrency lexicon that refers to the high risk involved with buying into new (and risky) currencies with large sums of money.
As of today, it’s been reported that Bored Ape NFTs that once sold for millions of dollars are now only worth a fraction of a fraction of their originally perceived value. Celebrities who were early investors are now experiencing the exact opposite of a return on their investments.
Justin Bieber, who dropped $1.3 million on his Bored Ape NFT, is now the owner of a piece of digital art only worth $59,000. Celebrities endorsers who also experienced this massive plummet in value include, but are not limited to: Madonna, Abel Tesafaye (The Weeknd), Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kevin Hart.
Yuga Labs Lawsuit
What’s more, these celebrity endorsers (and dozens more) were named as defendants in a class-action lawsuit that was filed against Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape NFT.
Citing financial impropriety, Adonis Real and Adam Titcher, the plaintiffs behind the class-action lawsuit, have stated the following in their December 8 2022 filing: “Celebrities and others are using social media networks to encourage the public to purchase stocks and other investments.”
These endorsements may be unlawful if they do not disclose the nature, source, and amount of any compensation paid, directly or indirectly, by the company in exchange for the endorsement.”
Justin Bieber, who dropped $1.3 million on his Bored Ape NFT, is now the owner of a piece of digital art only worth $59,000.
In other words, the plaintiffs, and those who they are representing have gone on record stating that they were duped by celebrity endorsers for not disclosing that they were paid to promote the sale of Bored Ape NFTs.
So while celebrities with deep pockets may be able to recover from their own ill-fated investment attempts, those with less resources suffered severe financial damages that could have otherwise been avoided if they knew the defendants had their own financial incentives to promote the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
Though the plaintiffs’ lawsuit is not without merit, it raises a bigger question about making misguided investments in markets that are not only relatively new, but extremely volatile. And while we admit that the Bored Apes NFTs are interesting works of art, it goes without saying that investing into cryptocurrencies with large sums of cash poses an obvious risk that we are currently witnessing the fallout of.
The plaintiffs, and those who they are representing have gone on record stating that they were duped by celebrity endorsers for not disclosing that they were paid to promote the sale of Bored Ape NFTs.
More conservative investors will talk until they’re blue in the face about the virtues of having a diverse portfolio of assets, rather than sinking all of your resources into a high-risk venture like a Bored Apes NFT.
In other words, if you see a celebrity endorsement for any product, especially an NFT collection like the now-tanking Bored Apes collection, it’s best to do your research before putting your money down.
