Justin Bieber's $1.31M Bored Ape NFT: What Happened and Why

In late January 2022, Justin Bieber bought Bored Ape Yacht Club token #3001, an NFT from the BAYC collection on the Ethereum blockchain. The purchase was widely reported as 500 ETH, which was roughly $1.31 million at the time.

The token is a unique digital image of a cartoon ape with its own metadata, stored on Ethereum. Owning it means holding the token in a crypto wallet. It does not automatically mean owning the copyright to the image. The license terms set by the project determine what the owner may do with the artwork, such as using it commercially, and those terms have changed over time, so the project's own official documentation is the place to confirm current rights.

The headline is a useful example of how NFT prices work. The sale was denominated in ETH, the native asset of Ethereum. The dollar figure in news coverage was a conversion made on the day of the reports. Anyone who wants to understand the purchase should separate the two numbers: the amount of ETH paid, and what that ETH was worth in dollars on that date.

The $1.31 million figure in headlines comes from a conversion. Bieber's purchase was made in ETH, so the dollar value depended on the ETH price on the day of the reports. Once the ETH price moves, the dollar amount implied by the same ETH figure moves too.

This matters for two reasons. First, a dollar figure in a 2022 article describes a past exchange rate and says little about the price in 2026. Second, a token bought for a set amount of ETH can be worth a very different amount of dollars later, even if the owner does nothing.

When you read any NFT sale headline, look for three things:

• The currency the sale used, such as ETH, SOL or a stablecoin
• The date the sale took place
• The conversion rate or source used for the dollar figure

If the article does not give these details, treat the dollar number as a rough guide only. Reliable historical price data is available from public market data services and from block explorers that show the sale transaction.

Bored Ape Yacht Club is an NFT collection created by Yuga Labs and launched on Ethereum. The collection is built from generated images of apes that combine different traits, such as clothing, backgrounds and expressions. Each token is a separate NFT, and the traits affect how collectors value it.

In the years after launch, the collection became one of the best-known profile picture, or PFP, projects. Its community, merchandise and related projects drew wide attention, and a related spin-off collection, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, was launched by the same team. Many NFT collections copied the format of a single image with traits, so the BAYC name appears often in coverage of the wider market.

Being well known does not guarantee a stable price. Collectors pay for expected demand, rarity and community activity, and all of these can change. A collection can have a high price one year and sell far below it later, even though the image and token are the same.

If you want to read the collection's current listings or sales history, the NFT marketplaces listed on this site show trading data for many collections, including Bored Ape tokens.

NFT prices are set by buyers and sellers in open markets, and they fall for several reasons. The Bored Ape case is a common pattern rather than a unique story.

The main drivers include:

• A broad fall in crypto prices, which reduces the dollar value of ETH and many other assets
• Less demand for speculative collectibles, so fewer buyers are willing to pay high prices
• Lower trading volume, which makes it harder to sell at the last recorded price
• Changes in a project's community, roadmap or perceived future value
• Competition from new collections and new marketplaces

Public reporting describes the Bieber token's value falling sharply from its purchase price, with some reports citing a decline of around 95 percent or more. Those figures came from different points in time and different measures, so they should be read as indications, not precise facts. The general lesson holds: the value of a single NFT depends on the willingness of others to buy it, and that can disappear quickly.

Several figures can sound like a current value, but they measure different things:

• Purchase price: the amount paid in the original sale, here reported as 500 ETH
• Last sale: the most recent completed trade for that token, which may be old
• Floor price: the cheapest listing for any token in the collection, which says nothing about the specific token's traits
• Highest bid: the top offer currently open, which may not be accepted
• Estimated value: a figure produced by a tool, which can lag behind the market

A token with rare traits may sell well above the collection floor, and a common token may sell at or near it. Because of this, a valuation based only on the floor can be misleading for a specific token. The same applies to an old last-sale price.

When the results show a current value of roughly $12,000 in one article and about $15,000 to $16,000 in another, the difference may reflect timing, the measure used or the sources, rather than an error in one of them. The honest answer is that the value is a moving figure that depends on how and when you measure it.

You can check the value of any NFT with a few steps. The aim is to find recent completed sales and open offers for the specific token, then compare them with the collection context.

1. Find the token ID, which for this example is 3001 in the Bored Ape collection. Confirm the contract address from the project's official channels.
2. Open the token on a marketplace that lists the collection, such as OpenSea, and check the sales history tab for completed trades and their dates.
3. Look at current listings and open offers. Note whether a listing is active or expired.
4. Check the collection's floor price and trading volume over the past few weeks. A low volume can mean that the last sale is not a reliable guide.
5. Repeat the check on a second venue, and record the date and the currency of each figure.
6. Use a block explorer to confirm the transaction details for any sale you rely on.

Trade data changes often. Any value you note should carry a date, and you should check again before making decisions based on it. This guide does not provide a current price, because that would be out of date quickly.

The Bieber example highlights several habits that apply to any NFT purchase:

• Treat the purchase price as a cost, not a guarantee of value.
• Assume that a single collectible can be hard to sell at a fair price in a downturn.
• Check liquidity, meaning how many completed sales occur and how quickly bids are filled, before buying.
• Understand the royalty and fee terms on the marketplace you use, because they reduce the amount you receive when you sell.
• Avoid spending money you cannot afford to lose on a single asset.
• Keep records of every purchase and sale for your own accounting and any tax reporting.

Concentrated positions carry more risk. Holding one high-priced token means the outcome depends almost entirely on that asset. Spreading smaller amounts across different assets does not remove risk, but it reduces the impact of one collection falling.

It is also worth separating the enjoyment of a collectible from its financial return. Some people buy an NFT for its art or community, and that is a separate decision from buying it as an investment. Decide which you are doing before you buy.

Security matters at every step of an NFT purchase or sale. Defensive habits protect you whether you are checking a value or trading.

• Never share your seed phrase or private keys with anyone, including people claiming to be support staff.
• Only connect your wallet to sites you have typed in yourself or reached from an official channel.
• Read every signature request carefully. Approving a contract can give it access to your tokens, so revoke approvals you no longer need.
• Be cautious of unsolicited messages offering to sell, appraise or recover NFTs.
• Use a hardware wallet for significant holdings, where your device is available.
• Verify contract addresses against the project's official documentation before interacting.

If you suspect a compromise, move remaining assets to a new wallet from a secure device and review your approvals. Report phishing to the relevant marketplace support channel, using contact details found on its official site rather than links in messages.

If you own an NFT and want to know what it is worth, your next steps are practical rather than predictive.

Start by recording your cost basis and the date you bought. Then check current floor prices, recent sales and open offers on at least two reputable venues. If you plan to sell, compare the net proceeds after marketplace fees and royalties, and consider whether a fixed listing or an offer suits your timeframe.

For readers researching the wider market, the marketplaces and tools on this site cover different niches. Opensea is a broad general marketplace. Element Market aggregates listings across many chains. Sudoswap V2 is a decentralized venue that uses pools and bonding curves, which works differently from a traditional order book. NFTX offers vault-backed tokens that trade against a pool. The Mutant Ape Yacht Club collection page is a useful starting point for a related Yuga Labs project.

No marketplace can promise a sale at a set price. Use the tools to understand current conditions, and consult a qualified financial or tax adviser for decisions about a larger holding.