The NFT space does not disappoint when it comes to memes. Things may, and frequently do, change in a community centered on blockchain art and internet culture.
There’s always something to talk about in the NFT industry, from 48-hour crypto collapses to celebrities randomly investing in NFT ventures.
When just discussing cultural events isn’t enough, the NFT community can always be counted on to create a meme or two to add to the conversation on social media.
So, to honor the unsung heroes of the strange wide world of nonfungibles, we’ve compiled a list of the top NFT memes of all time, ranging from crypto taxes to Gary Vee’s iconic smile.
And if you’re looking for meme NFTs—well-known memes that have been marketed as NFTs—we’ve got you covered there, too.
The Wolf Of Wall Street on NFTs
In the last year, NFTs have gone from a small online craze to one of the biggest pop cultural trends of the 2020s. NFTs aren’t for everyone, and not everyone knows what they are, but that hasn’t prevented a slew of artists and collectors from selling them.
Because of the hype, some individuals are prepared to buy almost anything as an NFT in the hope that the asset will be valuable. This fuels price speculation, which can lead to a crash.
Remember Tulip Mania, for example? The pixelated tulip NFTs, which were inspired by the historical 16th-century Dutch tulip frenzy, became their own obsession, with one of the 50 pixelated tulip NFTs fetching more than $55,000.
You can get one for as low as 0.05 ETH (about $160 USD) today.
Crypto taxes meme
Taxation in #cryptocurrency explained pic.twitter.com/1y3Mt0FXQq
— ᴀsɢᴀʀ (@asgarhid) February 1, 2022
Tax season, oh my. This is the time of year when we all try to make sense of our previous year’s gains and losses.
Many of us are left with little but bare-bones once all of our state and federal payments have been paid, as this tax meme shows us.
Thankfully, there is a wealth of information accessible on how to record NFT assets, profits, and losses on your taxes.
Twitter suspends @NFT
That escalated quickly.. pic.twitter.com/Jf0Dz9gyFR
— GratefulApe.eth ᵍᵐ ? (@GratefulApe_eth) February 3, 2022
Have Twitter’s NFTs been canceled? Certainly not. However, in February 2022, @NFT, a joint venture between Jason Falovitch and Mark Cuban, was placed in Twitter prison.
According to a spokeswoman for Meta, Instagram’s parent company, “this account was deactivated after multiple breaches of our regulations, and it will not be reactivated.”
The verified page was publicly accused of “supporting a clandestine cabal of scammy copycat NFT ventures without necessary disclosures” by Twitter user “Space Cowboy,” who goes by the handle @topshotfund, which resulted in the account being blocked.
McDonalds tweets about crypto
how are you doing people who run crypto twitter accounts
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) January 24, 2022
When the crypto and NFT markets crash, it’s a running joke in the crypto and NFT circles that blockchain billionaires will have to return to their day jobs, such as a shift at the local McDonald’s.
In January 2022, the charts had severely plummeted, so McDonald’s used the chance to check in on the community with this caustic tweet.
The makers and collectors, on the other hand, took it in stride and retaliated with their own barbs.
Crypto may be down but why are your icecream machines always down?
— Nemo (@sweetsinner3) January 24, 2022
Larva Labs Pokémon meme
In February 2022, LarvaLabs, the creators of CryptoPunks, received a lot of anger for pushing this Pokémon-inspired meme. John Watkinson, one of the company’s co-founders, sold his V1 CryptoPunks NFTs.
Just days after selling it, Larva Labs sought to ban the fledgling project and get it removed from NFT marketplaces.
This condemnation had the potential to drive down the price of V1 Punks, resulting in a financial loss for everyone who purchased NFTs from Watkinson.
Watkinson, on the other hand, pocketed all of the money from his sales and would suffer no losses as a result of the price decrease, which was triggered by a corporation he and one other person owned.
Tom Brady retires for NFTs meme
Lmao I thought everyone was joking about this, he’s really gonna focus on NFTs ? pic.twitter.com/YC1G41dHgd
— designer (@chriswallace) February 1, 2022
We’ve seen a number of celebrities become involved in NFT initiatives, but none quite like Tom Brady. He announced his retirement from the NFL in February 2022 to focus on his NFT business, Autograph (and his family, of course).
Brady’s retirement was short-lived, lasting only 40 days. This isn’t to say that Brady’s NFL career is ended. He’s collaborating with ESPN to develop a National Football League collection based on his career.
Kevin the unfinished Pixelmon meme
Kevin, oh, Kevin. This meme arose in the aftermath of the Pixelmon unveiling. Pixelmon is a project that raised more than $70 million via an unannounced NFT auction in the Netherlands.
Even though the image wasn’t finished, the team allegedly rushed the release, giving us Kevin (the name Kevin is the name of the NFT’s “species” trait).
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it-we made a terrible error,” said Syber, Pixelmon’s inventor, on Discord. “This is intolerable.” We felt compelled to push through, but the truth is that we weren’t ready to do so.
This isn’t representative of the brand, and we’ll rectify it since we’ve disappointed a lot of people with this revelation. He went on to claim that the club would spend $2 million on a new look for the artwork.
Pizelmon has evolved into an NFT Open World RPG in which you can train, grow, and battle your Pixelon. Kevin is still as well-known as he was before.
Kevin Punks and “The Lives of Kevin” are two meme NFT art collections inspired by him.
Vitalik the Bear meme
my entire net worth is in this man's hands pic.twitter.com/BoaSvHyOue
— theweeknd.eth (@LilMoonLambo) February 21, 2022
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, was photographed on stage at ETH Denver dressed to the nines. The programmer came onstage not only in pajamas but also in a full-body bear suit at one point.
He’s known for being funny on stage, but because the event happened when cryptocurrency prices were falling, many people saw the meme potential right away.
Donnie Darko seeks IRL friends
It’s far simpler to establish friends in the metaverse than it is in real life when you’re deep into NFTs. It’s not a big deal if you never get to see or hear your friend’s face or hear their voice… right?
In all seriousness, it’s amazing to witness the types of true relationships that are being created in the community. Through gatherings and activities, many of these online buddies are forming IRL relationships.
Never stood a chance
It occurs far too frequently. You believe you have a chance to win an auction, but then a whale shows up and shatters your hopes. The Golden Friend NFT was the one who got away in this scenario. Markus Magnusson is the creator of over 5,000 animated characters.
In March 2021, TRON blockchain pioneer Justin Sun was outbid in the final 20 seconds of a Christie’s auction, making it one of the most high-profile cases of getting outbid. What was the item he didn’t get?
The Everydays of Beeple: The First 5000 Days of NFT.
The GaryVee Smirk meme
Gary Vaynerchuk, AKA GaryVee, is one of the most important figures in the NFT ecosystem. VaynerX, a communications firm located in New York, is chaired by the wine critic turned social media billionaire.
In the last year, GaryVee went from collecting NFTs to making his own. He even started VaynerNFT to help celebrities and companies with their own NFT projects and built the VeeFriends network.
This amazing little screenshot comes from a CNBC interview with Vaynerchuk in early February. Vaynerchuk was asked about the “problematic” nature of the crypto and NFT markets during the interview, to which he responded with a chuckle.
The snapshot became a popular response graphic in the crypto and NFT worlds very quickly.
NFT roadmaps meme
NFT roadmaps pic.twitter.com/SAWy4VdTr9
— gaut (@0xgaut) February 23, 2022
Before diving into a new NFT project, it’s critical to conduct some homework on what the project is about, who’s behind it, and where they aim to take it. Many times, NFT roadmaps are little more than promises with no substance — like a beer with no foam.
Take, for example, Pixelmon, which garnered $70 million and then delivered Kevin, who is also on this list.
The Frosties, another NFT initiative, had a promising roadmap that included raffles, apparel, and even a “dedicated fund to safeguard the Frosties’ sustainability.“
However, only hours after the launch, the project’s creators took off with more than $1 million in ETH. They’ve been apprehended since then. What is the best approach to prevent such con artists? Do your homework.