The NFT market faces a chill as hype turns to caution amid abrupt valuation declines.
Justin Bieber’s Bored Ape #3001, acquired for a staggering 500 ETH in early 2022, has seen its value evaporate to approximately $12,000, reflecting a near-total wipeout of his initial $1.3 million investment.
The pop star, who has amassed one of the most visible celebrity NFT portfolios, acquired the digital collectible when enthusiasm for the sector reached its zenith. Analysts at the time noted Bieber paid well above prevailing rates, with comparable assets in the collection trading between $200,000 and $300,000.
With the highest bid at 5.9 ETH and the collection’s floor hovering near 6.15 ETH, Ethereum trading around $2,000 means investors who entered during the 2022 rally are facing even steeper dollar-denominated losses.
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), a 10,000-piece generative art series created by Yuga Labs, debuted in April 2021 at a mint cost of 0.08 ETH and sold out within half a day. By May 2022, floor prices reached as high as 128 to 145 ETH, equivalent to roughly $350,000 to $420,000 at prevailing exchange rates.
Bieber holds at least one additional piece from the series, ape #3850, which he acquired for roughly $470,000 shortly after his first purchase.
After the speculative bubble burst, NFT trading volumes and floor prices dropped sharply from their 2022 highs, but the sector did not disappear. Instead, development has shifted toward utility-focused applications such as in-game assets, access passes, identity tools, and tokenized real-world items.
Ethereum remains dominant for high-value NFTs, while Solana and Polygon have gained share through lower fees and better scalability.
