Culture

John Legere spent nearly $900k on a Steve Aoki NFT artwork

$888K

How much the NFT artwork “hairy” sold for.

Steve Aoki

A whopping $888,888.88. That's how much the former CEO of T-Mobile John Legere spent on an NFT by musician and record producer Steve Aoki's NFT, according to Rolling Stone. Aoki's NFT is from his psychedelic Dream Catcher collection of at least eight pieces, created in partnership with artist Antonio Tudisco.

The news of the purchase comes just a day after Input reported controversial rapper Azealia Banks had sold her audio sex tape on the blockchain, making it the first-ever adult production in the world of NFTs.

Aoki’s NFT collection went on sale on March 7 on NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway and brought in $4.25 million. The piece that Legere spent $888,888.88 is an animation of a hirsute head whipping its locks around, aptly titled "hairy.”

Shake your money maker — The 36-second-long clip has its own music and features a character with beaming yellow and purple eyes groovily shaking its turquoise and magenta head in front of a trippy pink background. Now Legere owns the video on the blockchain. Below you can see the whole of “hairy,” which Legere says he’s in love with.

If you’re still a little unclear about what the heck an NFT is, here’s a short explainer: NFT stands for “non-fungible token.” It’s a means of using the Ethereum blockchain to prove something is unique, and NFTs are now being “minted” of memes, GIFs, songs, paintings, and other digital artifacts. Post Malone is in on it, as is Team Rolfes, and even Kings of Leon.

Ride the wave with Aoki — In his interview with Rolling Stone, Aoki expressed excitement for the future of crypto-art, encouraging others to join the momentum, and said, "NFTs gave me an opportunity to finally merge art, collectible culture and music in a way I’ve never been able to realize before."

"I do believe," Aoki added, "that this is where the world is going by any means necessary. NFTs are a juggernaut that cannot be stopped. It will soon be normalized and be a structural pillar in our culture. If you’re reading this now, you’re early. Time to build, innovate and disrupt the entire space."

This is an NFT match made in heaven. It's befitting that Legere owns "hairy" now. The eccentric and rather loud ex-T-Mobile CEO’s magenta-hued piece of art matches his famous fuschia shoes, which is, well, sort of perfect.