It’s no surprise that big name celebrities are getting in on cryptocurrencies and NFTs. It makes total sense—they have the money to buy in, the fame to push a product, name recognition, and usually a pre-existing brand to attach their crypto endeavors to. More importantly, who wants to be left in technology’s dust and become culturally irrelevant? Certainly not celebrities.
Snoop Dogg has become one of the biggest public champions of crypto and NFTs, becoming an icon in the greater crypto community. Snoop has had a fairly long history with crypto, his support dating back to the 2010s. In 2013, he considered letting fans buy his album with Bitcoin, but he never followed through. He did, however, inspire 50 Cent to follow through with the idea and accept Bitcoin for album sales in 2014. After forgetting about the Bitcoins for years, he realized he was actually holding millions of dollars in Bitcoin, something that assuredly made Snoop jealous. In 2021, Snoop revealed that he is the anonymous crypto and NFT Twitter user known as Cozomo de Medici. Medici’s wallet contains around $17 million in Ethereum NFTs, an absolutely staggering sum. Some of his most valued NFTs are the famous cryptopunks. Despite this focus on NFTs, Snoop’s involvement in crypto goes even deeper.
Snoop now has his own coin, Snoop Coin. The coin is designed to be used on an app where token holders can use their tokens for exclusive products, events, and more, as well as in regular business that accept Snoop Coin. The way Snoop has been using this coin highlights an important use of crypto and NFTs—as a way to more directly connect with fans. Snoop sees crypto and NFT blockchains as a way to bypass the middleman and connect directly with fans, as well as a way to continue engagement beyond an album. Snoop isn’t the only celebrity to get in on the craze though.
Grimes has started experimenting with NFTs and has seen success in the endeavor. She partnered with NiftyGateway for her first ever NFT collection. Most of the NFTs were still images of her art, but others were animated and contained unreleased music as well. All of the NFTs were limited except two which were open editions, meaning there’s no limit to how many people can mint a numbered edition of the NFT. In this collection of nine NFTs, Grimes made $6 million dollars, proving the potential that NFTs have for creatives of all types. Steve Aoki is another celebrity who has showcased the potential of crypto and NFTs for creatives.
Steve Aoki has also started to explore the world of crypto and NFTs. He first started dabbling with NFTs in 2018 when he released his first NFT collection. That digital collection did very well, and since then, Aoki has dropped multiple NFT collections, earning him millions of dollars. Since then, the NFT market has grown and expanded exponentially, creating even more opportunities for artists. Now, Aoki is working on one of the first NFT TV shows ever. He released a series of clips from the show as NFTs, all of which sold out immediately. Aoki says that this is a proof of concept, showing that there is a demand for original content like that in the NFT space. Now Aoki is working on ways to expand the NFTs such as making them more interactive, giving owners producer credits, and more. Aoki is paving the way for future artists to utilize NFTs in new, exciting, and revolutionary ways. Hey Steve check out Digital Trading Cards (DTC) the next way to play.
To showcase how widespread crypto and NFTs have become, even Paris Hilton has become a crypto devotee. Hilton has made it very clear through her social media accounts and media appearances that she is “all in” on crypto and NFTs, going so far as to say, “NFTs have literally taken over my entire mind and soul.” Hilton invested in both Bitcoin and Ethereum back in 2016, a time when Bitcoin and Etherum were valued under $100 and $10 respectively, after personally meeting with the founders of Ethereum. Since then, she has released multiple NFTs to high acclaim and has been welcomed into the crypto community. She also has become incredibly active in the community, holding talks with others interested in NFTs, doing charity NFT sales, and more. Hilton’s involvement (and acceptance) into the crypto community truly shows how big the space has gotten and how welcoming it can be, no matter your past.
Regardless of how you feel about celebrities and celebrity in general, it’s clear that they are getting in on NFTs and crypto and bringing the market to a wider audience. Celebrity involvement is bound to push crypto and NFTs into the mainstream more than they already are, as well as discover new uses for blockchain technology.