The Artist’s Journey
On February 4, 2022, the worlds of pop music and digital collectibles collided in spectacular fashion when Justin Bieber — one of the most recognizable celebrities on the planet — purchased his second Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT in the span of a single week. The Canadian superstar acquired Bored Ape #3850 for 166 ETH, worth approximately $470,000 at the time, following up on a jaw-dropping 500 ETH ($1.3 million) purchase of BAYC #3001 just days earlier. At a moment when Bitcoin traded at $41,500 and Ethereum hovered around $2,983, Bieber’s spending spree underscored just how deeply celebrity culture had penetrated the NFT ecosystem.
The timing was no coincidence. February 2022 represented the absolute zenith of NFT hype — a period when Bored Ape Yacht Club had become the ultimate status symbol in both crypto and mainstream culture. With a floor price of 99.3 ETH (roughly $296,000), the collection had transcended its origins as a niche digital art project and evolved into something resembling a luxury brand. Celebrities, athletes, and musicians were all clamoring to join the club, and Bieber was leading the charge.
Collection Mechanics
Bored Ape #3850 was far from a random purchase. The NFT featured several rare traits that made it particularly desirable to collectors. Its Bandana Blue hat appeared in only 0.89% of the 10,000-strong collection, while the Grin Diamond mouth trait was even rarer at just 0.78% occurrence. Combined with pink fur, a purple background, a puffy vest, and bored eyes, the ape represented a carefully curated digital identity — exactly the kind of status piece that high-profile collectors seek.
What made this purchase especially notable was that BAYC #3850 had never previously been sold on OpenSea. The NFT had only been transferred between accounts, making Bieber the first public market buyer. This detail mattered enormously in the NFT community, where provenance and transaction history contribute significantly to an asset’s perceived value and narrative appeal.
Utility & Perks
Bieber’s Bored Ape purchases were part of a broader pattern of celebrity engagement that gave the collection its cultural power. Owning a Bored Ape granted access to exclusive community channels, commercial usage rights for the individual ape’s image, and entry into what had become one of the most influential networks in entertainment and technology. For a global pop star, the commercial IP rights alone were significant — Bieber could theoretically use his ape’s likeness on merchandise, in music videos, or across branding materials.
The broader NFT market was thriving alongside these celebrity endorsements. On the very same day, Buzzfeed News published a bombshell investigation revealing the real identities of Bored Ape Yacht Club’s pseudonymous creators: Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow, two Florida residents in their 30s who had built a multi-billion-dollar brand under the pseudonyms Gargamel and Gordon Goner. Their company, Yuga Labs, was simultaneously raising capital at a staggering $5 billion valuation — a number that would have seemed absurd just a year earlier for a project centered around cartoon ape images.
Secondary Market Action
The Bieber purchases coincided with a broader moment of peak euphoria in the NFT market. Just one day later, CryptoPunk #5822 — one of only nine ultra-rare alien punks — would sell for 8,000 ETH (approximately $23.7 million), setting a new all-time record for the collection. The Bored Ape Yacht Club floor at 99.3 ETH represented nearly $300,000 for the cheapest available ape, and trading volumes across platforms like OpenSea were shattering records.
However, beneath the surface of these headline-grabbing sales, competitive pressures were mounting. A new marketplace called X2Y2 launched on February 4, initiating what the crypto community dubbed a “vampire attack” on OpenSea by offering zero-royalty trading during its beta phase. This aggressive strategy highlighted the growing tensions between creators who relied on royalties and platforms competing for market share through fee cuts.
Final Verdict
Looking back at Bieber’s February 2022 Bored Ape purchases, they serve as a perfect time capsule of the NFT market at its most euphoric. The combination of celebrity buying power, anonymous founders revealed, record-breaking sales, and billion-dollar valuations created a moment that would prove impossible to sustain. Yet the cultural impact was undeniable — Bieber and his celebrity peers brought NFTs into mainstream consciousness in ways that pure crypto enthusiasm never could. Whether viewed as prescient investment or cautionary tale, the purchases reflected the genuine belief among many high-profile individuals that digital ownership represented a fundamental shift in how we think about art, identity, and community. The broader market would soon face a significant correction, but on February 4, 2022, the party was still very much in full swing.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. NFT investments carry significant risk, including the potential for total loss. Past celebrity purchases do not guarantee future value. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
bieber spent 500 eth ($1.3m) on ape #3001 and then another 166 eth ($470k) on #3850 a week later. wonder what those are worth now lol
celebrity nft buys were such obvious exit liquidity signals and nobody wanted to hear it
ape #3001 is worth maybe 15 eth now. thats a $1.3M to roughly $30K roundtrip. the L on that trade is generational
ghostbag_ the 5x premium over floor for a specific token ID is the part that aged worst. same jpeg, 400 ETH extra for the number
ghostbag_ ape #3001 at 500 ETH when floor was 99. thats a 5x premium over floor for a specific tokenId. the flex economics of NFTs in 2022 were genuinely insane
ghostbag_ the math is brutal. $1.3M to $30K on a jpeg of a cartoon ape. you cant even call it a bad trade, its just wealth destruction
the floor was at 99.3 eth ($296k) when bieber bought. he literally bought the top of a jpeg collection. peak celebrity nft
I remember thinking $296k for a floor ape was reasonable because of the brand partnerships. What were we all smoking.
99.3 eth floor and he still paid 166 eth for the second one. when youre buying above floor for jpeg clout the market has peaked
Tobias G. 99.3 ETH floor. insane to think people were bidding 100+ ETH on cartoon apes while actual L1 protocols were building real infrastructure
Tobias G. paying 166 eth above a 99 eth floor is pure clout premium. he overpaid by 67% just to flex on instagram. peak 2022 energy
Bieber dropping $1.3M on a single NFT while ETH was at $2,983. The math on that purchase has aged terribly.
every celeb who aped into BAYC at the top was on somebody’s payroll. the paid promotion disclosures came out years later and nobody cared
bieber was one of like 20 celebrities who bought apes at the top. post malone, jimmy fallon, steph curry. every single one underwater
jpg_witness post malone bought ape #961 for 160 ETH right before the top too. every celeb exit liquidity purchase is documented on chain forever
floor_watch_88 post malone and bieber both bought within weeks of each other at the absolute top. someone was coordinating these celebrity purchases for sure
326803 coordinated celeb purchases at the absolute top was not coincidence. Yuga was giving allocations to talent agencies as marketing deals
celeb_bag_tracker_ Yuga giving allocations to talent agencies as marketing deals explains the coordinated celebrity purchases perfectly. the organic adoption narrative was manufactured start to finish
Suki M. post malone and bieber both buying within weeks at the absolute top and someone was coordinating it. the paid promotion disclosures came out years later and nobody cared because the floor had already crashed
every celebrity ape purchase was basically a paid endorsement. managers were getting ape allocations as part of promo deals. the “organic” celebrity adoption narrative was always fake
166 ETH for ape #3850 at $2,983 per ETH. that purchase receipt lives on the blockchain as a permanent reminder of peak jpeg fever
floor at 99.3 eth and bieber paid 500 for #3001. thats not collecting thats announcing to the world you have too much money
jpeg_forensics_ 5x premium over floor for a specific tokenId is just flex economics. happens in every collectible market from watches to sneakers to apes
jpeg_forensics_ exactly. the premium over floor was pure ego pricing. same jpeg different number
306192 5x premium over floor for a specific token ID. the flex economics of BAYC were unsustainable from day one. same thing happened with CryptoPunks in 2021