The man who once said NFTs would become part of global culture within five years has officially exited crypto.
Back in 2021, Steve Aoki was one of the loudest voices in the NFT boom.
He launched his first NFT collection, Dream Catcher, on Nifty Gateway and generated more than $4 million in a single drop. One artwork alone sold for $888,888.
At a private event later that year, Aoki admitted that one NFT release made him more money than an entire decade of album advances combined.
Six albums.
Ten years of music.
Outperformed in a single afternoon by digital collectibles.
That moment captured the peak of NFT mania.
Celebrities rushed in.
Investors piled in.
Owning a Bored Ape became a status symbol for the internet elite.
At one point, BAYC floor prices climbed above $400,000. Some apes sold for millions. The message was simple: this wasn’t just art — it was supposed to be the future of culture itself.
Aoki fully embraced it.
He launched A0K1VERSE.
Built NFT platforms.
Partnered on Solana projects.
Promoted Web3 as the next evolution of entertainment and community.
During one live DJ set, he even stopped the music to show off an NFT worth 270 ETH and shouted:
“NFTs make me feel like a kid again.”
Fast forward to today.
Blockchain trackers now show his wallets quietly unwinding positions:
• Billions of SHIB sold
• Billions of PEPE liquidated
• ETH swapped out
• Funds routed to Gemini
The seven Bored Apes he once bought for over $800,000 each are now worth a fraction of that price.
What was once marketed as a cultural revolution has largely faded into a niche corner of the internet.
The hype arrived instantly.
The adoption never truly followed.
Five years later, the promise of NFTs becoming mainstream culture feels far more like a market cycle than a societal shift.