Madonna becomes the latest celeb to flaunt a new Bored Ape

Popstar Madonna has acquired a Bored Ape non-fungible token (NFT) valued at more than half a million dollars.

The 63-year old singer said in an Instagram post on Thursday evening that she had “entered the metaverse” by acquiring Bored Ape #4988, a cartoon monkey with funky fur and an ‘S&M hat.’

In the post, she thanked MoonPay, a crypto payments outfit that has been purchasing big ticket NFTs on behalf of celebrities since late last year.  

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Transaction records on OpenSea, the NFT marketplace, show that MoonPay acquired Madonna’s Bored Ape for 180 ether (around $564,000) last week. The company then transferred the piece to a wallet presumably owned by Madonna two days ago.

Shortly after, MoonPay transferred Bored Ape #1506 to another wallet. That item — a leopard-furred primate with an eye-patch — has since become the Twitter profile picture of rapper Wiz Khalifa.

The fresh endorsements come at a busy time for Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection. It has just rolled out a new token and is preparing to launch a metaverse gaming project, in addition to announcing a $450 million investment from venture capital backers earlier this week.

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About Author

Ryan Weeks is deals editor at the The Block, focused on fundraising, M&A and institutional trends in the crypto space, among other things. He is particularly interested in investigative work — so please send tips! Ryan previously worked at Financial News, Dow Jones as a fintech correspondent in London. Prior to that, he wrote for several different publications, including Sifted, AltFi and Wired. Beyond journalism, Ryan is a keen reader and writer. He enjoys all things active, especially running, rugby, climbing and tennis.