How Celebrity Status Couldn't Save BAYC Investments: The Justin Bieber Story

When Justin Bieber entered the Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem in January 2022, he was riding the peak of the NFT boom. The pop star acquired two apes—#3001 for 500 ETH and #3850 for 166 ETH—spending approximately $1.7 million in total. At that time, purchasing premium digital collectibles seemed like a smart investment move, especially with major celebrities and influential figures flooding into the space.

Today, that narrative looks remarkably different. Those same NFTs are now valued at roughly $58,610 and $58,898 respectively, representing a staggering 93% erosion in value. What went wrong, and what does Bieber’s experience tell us about celebrity-backed crypto assets?

The BAYC Bubble and Collapse

The Bored Ape Yacht Club, a collection of 10,000 blockchain-based cartoon apes, experienced a textbook boom-and-bust cycle. The collection peaked in April 2022, commanding a total market capitalization exceeding 1.4 million ETH with individual floor prices reaching 153 ETH. This wasn’t driven purely by scarcity or art appeal—celebrity endorsement played a massive role.

Alongside Bieber, prominent figures like Snoop Dogg, Drake, and Eminem bought into BAYC and publicly promoted the collection. Their combined star power created a network effect that temporarily sustained prices. However, as broader crypto markets deteriorated and the initial hype evaporated, the floor price collapsed to just 31.4 ETH. The market cap similarly crashed to 322,930 ETH—a decline that mirrors the NFT sector’s sharp contraction throughout 2022 and 2023.

The MoonPay Connection and Promotional Strategy

A pattern emerged that raised questions in the crypto community: several celebrities who invested in BAYC were also participants in a major funding round for MoonPay, a fiat-to-NFT payment platform. The $87 million funding round included backing from these high-profile names, prompting some observers to speculate whether celebrity involvement served dual purposes—both as genuine investment and as coordinated marketing.

Trading volume across the NFT market experienced a dramatic 50% decline during the same period, suggesting that the broader downturn extended far beyond BAYC specifically. The combination of reduced trading activity and declining floor prices left holders, including Bieber, facing substantial unrealized losses.

What This Reveals About Celebrity-Driven Crypto Assets

Bieber’s experience with BAYC offers an instructive lesson: celebrity endorsement cannot decouple an asset from fundamental market forces. When adoption slows, liquidity dries up, and speculative interest fades, even high-profile ownership provides limited price support. The gap between a $1.7 million entry point and a $120,000 current valuation underscores how quickly perceived value can evaporate in volatile asset classes like NFTs.