Former teen pop icon Justin Bieber has taken a massive hit in one of his NFTs over the last few years. In 2022, he purchased one of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) digital collectibles for 500 ETH (worth $1.2 million) in a much-publicized transaction. However, his NFT is now worth just a fraction of what he paid for it, down 99.99%.
What Happened to BAYC and the NFT Market?
The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is among the two most recognizable NFT collections, alongside Cryptopunks. The iterations of the same bored chimp in thousands of different avatars was a novel idea that helped propel the NFT market to new heights during 2020-2022, the last major crypto boom.
In 2021, the NFT market attracted more than $40 billion in total capital sent to marketplaces. Trading volumes were estimated at between $17.6 billion and $25.1 billion for the calendar year.
However, NFTs have since faded into the background, and tens of billions of dollars spent on them have been wiped out by market forces. The total market capitalization of NFTs is just around $1.55 billion as of early 2026, with only a few blue-chip collections retaining some value, if at all.
Bieber’s Bored Ape Crashed in Value
The BAYC collection had 10,000 NFTs and was a major internet and social media sensation back in the day. The value of NFTs varied significantly based on appearance, style, color schemes, and even prior ownership. Bieber paid a premium for the BAYC 3001 back in the day, and at the time, some analysts thought it was a bargain. Here is the collectible:
Bieber didn’t give an official reason behind the purchase, but it was reported that this particular piece had physical similarities to the pop icon.
The only silver lining for Bieber in this situation is that his ownership of #3001 might make the collectible more valuable than its reported $12,000 price tag, given his association with it.
Other popular digital collectibles like Pudgy Penguins and Cryptopunks have also incurred heavy losses since 2022, and the overall sector is stuck in a permanent decline for now, unlike Bitcoin, which has seen ups and downs over the last two years.
The Future of NFTs
Prediction markets are not in favor of an NFT comeback, but BAYC’s creators aren’t fazed by the overall downturn.
Last October, Yuga Labs announced plans to open a physical Bored Ape clubhouse in Miami, Florida, an exclusive hangout for its NFT holders. The whole promise of these digital collections was exclusivity, and that’s the model they want to continue with right now.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/justin-biebers-1-2-million-bored-ape-nft-purchase-is-now-worth-just-12000/
