Madonna has aped in. The Material Girl announced on Thursday (March 24) that she is now the proud owner of a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT — Bored Ape No. 4988, to be specific.
“I finally entered the Metaverse…,………..My very own Ape! What should I name her ? … We all need protection from Evil Eye,” the pop superstar captioned an image of her Ape on Instagram. Her BAYC ape features the sleeveless logo T-shirt, S&M hat and eyes on its magenta body, and per Madonna, was acquired with the help of crypto startup MoonPay.
MoonPay, the crypto custodian and payments processor that serves as a “concierge” service for celebrities interested in buying NFTs, was behind the latest transaction.
For the uninitiated, the company previously launched MoonPay Concierge, a new service for high net worth individuals interested in purchasing crypto and high-value NFTs. Snoop Dogg, Gunna, Meek Mill, Lil Baby, Gwyneth Paltrow, Diplo, and Kevin Hart are some of its well-known clients.
The latest data on the NFT marketplace OpenSea revealed that MoonPay acquired 180 ETH (approximately $564k) ten days ago, then transferred to the singer’s wallet on March 23rd.
Despite high-profile artists increasingly tapping the world of NFTs, many fans on Madonna’s Instagram post were not happy. Some called it a disappointing move, while a few asked the singer to delete the post. Another user complained,
According to NFT marketplace OpenSea’s records, MoonPay bought Madonna’s new token—BAYC #4988—for 180 Ethereum (roughly $564,660 at press time). Prior to that, the ape last changed hands for 46.5 Ethereum in August—worth about $155,000.
Notably, rumors that Madonna is pondering a BAYC purchase have been flying around since at least January. At the time, BAYC holder Lindsey Byrnes tweeted at Madonna, pointing out similarities between the looks of her ape and the singer’s “Justify my love” album cover.
Two weeks later, Madonna replied: “Ape well chosen. Now what?” Additionally, Madonna and BAYC actually have the same manager—Guy Oseary—so it wasn’t really unexpected for the musician to cross paths with premium NFT apes sooner or later.
Simultaneously, MoonPay also transferred another ape—BAYC #1506—to an unknown address on Thursday. Soon after, rapper Wiz Khalifa uploaded the “jpeg” as his Twitter avatar.
More and more celebrities have been hopping on the NFT bandwagon as of late, with BAYC being a popular choice. In November, Post Malone spent more than $700,000 on Bored Apes Nos. 9039 and 961. Marshmello, Steve Aoki, The Chainsmokers, Lil Baby, Timbaland and many others are also among BAYC collectors. Timba has also created a BAYC metaverse entertainment brand called Ape-In Productions, which will use Bored Apes to perform music and sell items as NFTs.
