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OG collector Pranksy is one of the most prolific figures in the NFT space, yet remains one of crypto’s greatest mysteries, with his true identity still unknown.
Starting with just $600 worth of ETH in 2017 (incredibly he’s never had to buy any more ETH with fiat) Pranksy cut his teeth with the explosion of CryptoKitties and quickly built up a stack of ETH which he relentlessly poured back into the ecosystem, being dubbed the “King of the Mint” by the time NFT mania truly hit in 2020-21.A key figure in popularizing Bored Ape Yacht Club, some of his trades have become legendary.
On September 4, 2021, he purchased a Zombie CryptoPunk #6275 for 1,000 ETH ($3.89M) and sold it later that same day for 1,320 ETH ($5.12mil) — a casual $1.23 million profit in 24 hours.
Today, he still has more than 45,000 NFTs in his primary wallet, pranksy.eth, with Avastars and CyberBrokers two of his biggest current holdings.
But while few names in NFTs carry as much weight as his, ask him who Pranksy really is and the answer might surprise you.
“Pranksy was an individual. In fact, the name ‘Pranksy’ was only adopted a few years into the world of NFTs, when the market started gaining interest in digital art,” he tells NFT Collector.
“Pranksy now represents a wonderfully diverse team of people; however, ‘Pranksy’ is still an individual voice, who runs his own social media, he just has help running NFTBoxes and our new shiny thing, the House of Pranksy.”
$600 in ETH started it all
Similar to the trajectory of other OG NFT collectors such as j1mmy.eth and Nate Alex, Pranksy first stumbled upon NFTs through CryptoKitties around the end of 2017. He had never even bought ETH at the time.
“A friend told me via Slack that people were paying ridiculous amounts of money for pictures of cats on the internet, and you could breed those cats, the rest is history,” Pranksy says.
“I bought around $600 of ETH to buy and mint those kittens, I never bought ETH again after this.”
That moment led to years of collecting, experimenting and building up a huge stack of ETH in a space that most of the world hadn’t yet heard of. Long before 2021-22 NFT mania, Pranksy was stacking NFTs and making a name for himself among a tight-knit group of collectors, artists and project founders through 2017-2020.
And the origin of the name “Pranksy”?
“Before Pranksy, it was Pranked. I wanted to rebrand when minting my first piece of terrible artwork,” he says.
BAYC Genesis: The mint and tweet that changed everything
One of Pranksy’s most notable moments in his career as a top NFT whale started like any other mint.
On 1 May 2021, he minted 1,250 Bored Apes in a few batches. His initial mint of 250 was followed with a tweet, “No horrible FOMO pricing strategy, each Ape is .08 ETH, + they look great.” Within a few more hours, Pranksy ran his total up to 1,250 total Apes.
Pranky’s multiple large mints and tweets, along with j1mmy.Eth’s sweep of 420 Apes led to the sell-out of all 10,000. At the time, no one, including Pranksy, could predict the trajectory BAYC was about to take.
“It wasn’t very different to many other mints, it was at a time when NFT projects didn’t sell out in seconds with a huge waitlist for minting. Nobody expected BAYC to be one of the greatest returns on initial investment in the history of finance.”
He recalls interacting with his running mate, j1mmy.eth and BAYC, “Passed the profile picture test.”
What followed was a historic run. A single Ape could eventually net a holder close to $1mil from a mint cost of 0.08 ETH (~$220), if they held their original BAYC and sold their airdrops: BAKC (June ’21), MAYC (Sep ’21), ApeCoin (Mar ’22), and Otherside Land (May ’22). The top coincided with the Otherdeed for Otherside mint at the end of April 2022, almost exactly one year after the mint.
NFT dealer to celebrities and sports stars
The eye-watering run-up of value for Bored Apes didn’t happen immediately. For the first month, Apes were still sitting below a 1 ETH floor price, and Pranksy was still sending large quantities of his collection to friends.
By the back half of 2021, Apes were becoming a cultural phenomenon and they were everywhere: Steph Curry, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Jimmy Fallon, Madonna, Justin Bieber and many more. Everyone wanted a piece of the action.
Pranksy ended up doing deals with some of the world’s most famous people and sports stars, from Gwyneth Paltrow to Tinie Tempah to NBA star Josh Hart, who’s currently playing in the NBA playoffs.
“At the time, BAYC was just another NFT project. I was doing giveaways and trades for ridiculous things to raise awareness for NFTs as a whole, as well as my own following, not a particular project.”
“I traded with NBA stars, musicians and celebrities, usually for things like sports jerseys and sunglasses.”
Who were his favorites to interact with?
“Gwyneth Paltrow was lovely to talk to and genuinely engaged. Imogen Heap was experimenting with the blockchain long before the ERC-721 standard was written. Tinie Tempah was also fun, we were looking at some creative collaboration options at one point, he is still repping his Ape today.”
And any regrets about parting with so many Apes?
“No ‘ragrets’,” he says.
Bullish on sports NFTs
Pranksy is a huge sports fan too, and when NBA Top Shot launched, he became one of the top collectors.
While the magic of the early days of NBA Top Shot has fizzled out for many, Pranksy believes the platform and sports NFTs may still have their best days ahead of them yet.
“During its alpha launch, I repeatedly stated publicly that NBA Top Shot would define NFTs, and its failure or success would drive the future of tokenized collectibles. In 2021, Top Shot exploded in popularity, as did NFTs,” says Pranksy.
“Four years later, the ridiculous prices have disappeared, but the project still has fans who mint regularly. The use cases for NFTs are exponential, we lost that vision during the PFP bull market during COVID-19, but I still believe in the tech and its potential.”
Sorare, a fantasy football game that uses NFTs as digital trading cards, also captured his attention, and Pranksy is now a promotional partner for the project.
“I’m a huge fan of sports, analytics and stats within sports. Sorare couldn’t be better placed to fit my interests. I genuinely believe it’s the best fantasy sports product in the world. I’ve spent over 1,000 ETH on some football JPEGs. I don’t believe another NFT project has found a better balance between utility and collectibles.”
Pranksy’s own projects
Pranksy is also no stranger to creating. In 2021, Pranksy launched NFTBoxes, a curated experience designed to spotlight artists and make art collecting fun. It was inspired by the success of his previous NFT Advent Calendar.
“The idea simply was to put quality NFT pieces together in a single monthly box from talented artists within the space. Art can be so exciting, but the art world can be closed and talent often gets pushed out of the spotlight. We aimed to break that boundary and bring inspiring art pieces to NFT collectors and beyond.
Now he’s teasing House of Pranksy, a new project with different ambitions.
“Unlike traditional NFT clubs that revolve around speculative value, House of Pranksy is being built around cultural permanence, knowledge, community and legacy.” Project updates will be on his personal X account.
Rapid Fire Q&A with Pranksy
When did you mint your first NFT?
December 2017 with CryptoKitties.
When did you buy your first crypto?
December 2017. I bought around $600 of ETH to buy and mint CryptoKitties. I never bought ETH again after this.
What’s the origin of your name?
Before Pranksy it was Pranked, I wanted to rebrand when minting my first piece of terrible artwork.
If you could only keep 3 NFTs forever, which ones would they be?
1 — Josie – Tune In & Physical Print
2 — Mercedes x MDJ F1 Car (It’s a real F1 car)
What’s your favorite 1 of 1 art piece that you own?
Josie —Tune In
Favorite artists?
Alotta Money, Josie, Hackatao, Burnt Toast, Nina Chanel, Trevor Jones, Rizacan Kumas, Angie Taylor, Nate Alex and many, many more.
What’s your thesis as an NFT collector? How do you think about buying and selling?
You might as well ask me, “How do you breathe?” because the answer is, I don’t know. It just happens. Instinct and luck play a part. Collect because you authentically believe in something, want to participate in something, or because you like it. Speculation isn’t always the fun part.
What’s an under-appreciated NFT project right now in your opinion?
Avastars & CyberBrokers – #onchaingang
Whose NFT portfolio do you think has an awesome collection outside of yours?
There are many individuals, I think anyone who has stuck around since 2017 deserves a mention.
What’s been your biggest NFT sale?
I bought CryptoPunk #6275 for 1,000 ETH ($3.89 million) and sold it for 1,320 ETH ($5.12 million) on the same day.
Where’s your head currently at with the NFT space?
A large majority of the “NFT space” have moved to memecoins, AI, or whatever else is on trend. However, I see daily posts from “OGs” and the class of 2021 missing the vibe we had when NFTs were the only thing we were talking about. In 2020-22, we had the perfect storm of lockdown, the Beeple auction and the rise of Top Shot. I don’t think we’ll ever see that perfect storm again, but I wouldn’t rule out an NFT renaissance.
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