By Key Points
- Beeple staged a fake backstory linking Nakamigos to CryptoPunks.
- Prices spiked 140% before settling to a 25% gain.
- The reveal was satire, created using AI.
- The stunt split the NFT community between humor and manipulation claims.
The Beeple NFT stunt has once again proven that the artist’s influence can shake up the NFT market in ways few others can.
At a recent event in Charleston, South Carolina, Beeple delivered what many now call the most controversial NFT moment of the year, and it all started with a fake history lesson.
The Stunt That Rocked NFT Twitter
The gathering was meant to honor the legacy of CryptoPunks, the pixelated collection that kickstarted modern NFT culture in 2017. Instead, Beeple turned it into a moment of pure chaos.
On stage, he played what appeared to be a recorded interview with CryptoPunks creators Matt Hall and John Watkinson. In the video, the pair claimed Nakamigos, a separate, meme-driven NFT collection, had launched before CryptoPunks as a secret Larva Labs project.
The fictional “V0 Punks” were introduced with a dramatic countdown. Flyers handed to attendees doubled down on the claim, lending it an air of legitimacy.
NFT Twitter exploded. Within hours, the floor price for Nakamigos soared nearly 140%, fueled by buyers eager to grab a piece of “NFT history” before the rest of the market caught on.
Nakamigos are up 138% based off the news that they’re V.0 Punks
A lot are claiming that they’re made by @larvalabs before they made Punks
I would have believed if I didn’t saw this video from the event 😂
I think @Nakamigos founder is in the event tho
And his name is @beeple… pic.twitter.com/Atl2kKLuCm
— JBond (@jbondwagon) August 10, 2025
But the truth surfaced quickly: the video was satire, allegedly generated with AI. CryptoPunks was still the original 2017 launch, with no hidden Nakamigos connection.
This kind of unexpected market movement echoes other times when major crypto events, like the XRP lawsuit dismissal, have sent prices and sentiment swinging dramatically in hours.
People are genuinely mad at Beeple for this obvious troll? Gtfoh🤣
I think it’s about time we start to make NFTs fun again. If you lost money trading this, it’s on you for not understanding that Beeple is an epic troll.
Make some effort to learn something before blaming people. pic.twitter.com/12exySNQwf
— Beanie (@beaniemaxi) August 10, 2025
Market Reactions and the Influence of Beeple
Even after the reveal, Nakamigos held onto a chunk of its gains, trading around 0.23 ETH, roughly 25% higher than before the stunt.
Nakamigos NFT Price Performance. Source: CoinGecko – Techtoken
Some holders celebrated the sudden bump, calling it a fun twist in a market that often takes itself too seriously. NFT personality Beanie summed it up:
“People are genuinely mad at Beeple for this obvious troll. I think it’s about time we start to make NFTs fun again. If you lost money trading this, it’s on you.”
Others weren’t as forgiving. Critics accused Beeple of knowingly spreading false claims that affected market behavior, calling it a blurred line between performance art and price manipulation.
Beeple has not stated his intentions. Whether a harmless joke or a calculated experiment, the Beeple NFT stunt reinforced just how quickly sentiment can shift in the NFT space, especially when a high-profile creator is involved.
Similar market influence can be seen when political decisions impact crypto, such as Trump’s 401k crypto move that analysts believe could unlock billions in flows.
Beeple’s Track Record of Market-Moving Moments
This isn’t the first time Beeple has shaken the NFT world. In 2021, his $69 million sale of “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” helped push NFTs into mainstream headlines. Since then, he has staged several headline-grabbing projects, from live physical installations to politically charged artworks.
More recently, Beeple weighed in on Ethereum’s NFT Torch, a symbolic relay celebrating Ethereum’s 10th anniversary. While hype around that project faded within weeks, the Nakamigos stunt reignited buzz in NFT circles almost instantly.
The hype cycles here resemble the way key events in the Ethereum ecosystem, like the recent Ethereum developer detention in Turkey, can ripple through the community, driving waves of conversation and speculation.
Beeple’s approach blends digital art, performance, and community engagement, often pushing the boundaries of what collectors expect. That unpredictability keeps him at the center of NFT discourse but also invites criticism when playful acts intersect with real money.
What This Means for NFT Culture
The Beeple NFT stunt has sparked bigger questions about the NFT ecosystem. Should creators be free to troll and satirize, even if it impacts markets? Or does such freedom risk eroding trust in a space already battling skepticism?
NFTs are uniquely vulnerable to personality-driven volatility. A single tweet, livestream, or rumor can move prices dramatically. This makes the space fertile ground for creative storytelling, but also a minefield for traders who mistake fiction for fact.
For example, market responses to major exchange updates, like Coinbase’s DEX trading expansion, show how narrative shifts can drive both excitement and panic.
In Beeple’s case, his actions reignited energy in an otherwise cooling market, at least temporarily. For some, that’s a win. For others, it’s a reminder that NFT speculation often runs on narratives, not fundamentals.
The reaction to his stunt also mirrors how investors react to ETF news, such as the BlackRock XRP ETF rejection, where sentiment and speculation outweighed facts in the short term.
With Ethereum’s anniversary celebrations winding down and NFT sales trending sideways, this latest episode proves that influential figures still have the power to set the agenda, for better or worse.
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