Eminem is Latest Celebrity to Buy a Bored Ape NFT

Multiple Grammy award winner Marshall Bruce Mathers, better known as Eminem, has joined the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) after purchasing one of the NFTs for 123.45 ETH ($452,000).

Eminem Purchases BAYC NFT for $452,000

The purchase became public after Eminem used the blonde ape avatar as his profile picture on Twitter. Fellow member of the BAYC, GeeGazza, sold the NFT to Eminem and tweeted his excitement to have made that happen, describing the experience as that of living in a simulation. However, the legendary rapper himself is yet to make any public statement on the matter.

I’m living in a simulation.

Thank you @Eminem for buying my ape and joining the club!

Madness. Let me write a lyric in your next single 🤣 pic.twitter.com/myGNRmMLeD

— GeeGazza  (@Gee__Gazza) December 31, 2021

The sale was facilitated by digital agency Six. The agency tweeted that it helped the rapper secure the NFT, named “Eminape” due to the likeness between the avatar and Eminem himself. The agency has also helped other creators, including Wu-Tang Clan, Tycho, and Galantis, on other digital projects.

With the purchase, Eminem officially became a member of one of the most elite NFT projects in the world. As it turns out, this isn’t the rapper’s first foray into NFT. Eminem is an avid collector with at least 15 NFTs to his name, Shady Holdings, on OpenSea.

Celebrities in the NFT Space

Eminem isn’t the first celebrity to become a BAYC member, with stars like Steph Curry and talk show host Jimmy Fallon already owning BAYC NFT. Thus, it’s not surprising that BAYC has grown to become the number 2 NFT project on OpenSea by trading volume as it accounts for nearly 6.3% of OpenSea’s entire volume.

Despite its recent launch in 2021, BAYC has exceeded one of the pioneer NFT projects, Crypto Punk, in floor price.

Other celebrities in the hip-hop scene have also jumped on the NFT train, with RnB singer Jason Derulo announcing he bought a Cryptopunk NFT last year. Snoop Dogg also revealed himself to be Cozomo de’ Medici, a popular crypto personality and NFT whale with a collection worth over $17 million.

Per available data, the crypto niche had a trading volume of over $13 billion in 2021 while the figure stood at just $33 million in 2020 —an indication of the level of progress the space has seen within the last year.