DJ and producer Steve Aoki is liquidating much of his cryptocurrency portfolio and moving funds to the Gemini exchange.
On Monday, blockchain data from Arkham Intelligence showed Aoki's wallet sold 1.785 billion SHIB for approximately $10,300 and swapped 7.25 ETH for about $15,900. This follows a sale of 4.155 billion PEPE tokens through 1inch two weeks prior.
The sell-off comes nearly five years after Aoki told CoinDesk in 2021 that NFTs would become "part of culture" within a five-year timeframe.
The NFT slump
While Aoki is moving stablecoins to Gemini, he continues to hold seven Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. However, the value of these assets has plummeted from an initial investment of over $800,000 to roughly $97,000.
At current floor prices, each Ape is worth approximately $13,800, representing an 88% decline in value.
Aoki previously attempted to bridge the gap between NFTs and mainstream media with "Dominion X," an NFT-backed TV project produced with Seth Green's Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. Although the project sold 500 NFTs on Nifty Gateway in just 30 seconds, the show never reached broadcast.
Aoki's manager told CoinDesk the initial sale "barely covered" production costs.
The decline in Aoki's holdings mirrors a broader market trend. Bored Ape floor prices have crashed from over $400,000 in early 2022 to under $14,000 today.
Recent crypto market rallies, which pushed Bitcoin above $126,000, have largely bypassed the NFT sector. Capital in the current cycle has shifted toward projects offering clear utility rather than the speculative, narrative-driven assets that defined the 2021 boom.
