Why did Pranksy sell the Golden Ape Doodle?

Ultimately, only Pranksy himself will know why he has chosen to sell not just his Golden Ape Doodle, but many of his other Doodles NFTs as well.

The purchase of Doodle #6914 on January 5, 2022 for 296.69 ETH – at the very height of the NFT market – made the Golden Ape Doodle the largest 1-of-1 Doodles NFT sale in history. Pranksy would go on to build a collection of over 70 Doodles NFTs, at one point worth well over $3.5 million USD – though has drastically whittled that down, especially in the past week.

Many reactions have expressed how ‘free’ this purchase was for the buyer. Some have speculated that the sale could be tax-related, with Pranksy stating as much in a recent tweet. In a later tweet, Pranksy stated that this sale marks a shift in his priorities, noting that he is “looking forward to a new chapter not involving speculation, gambling and AI”.

What impact will this have on Doodles?

The sale made an immediate impact on the floor price of Doodles NFTs, dipping from 3.39 ETH ($6,780 USD) to a low of 2.79 ETH ($5,130 USD) – though has recovered to 2.95 ETH ($5,275 USD). This happened in spite of a dip in the value of ETH over the same period.

The past six months have seen a lot of activity for Doodles. Following a McDonalds collaboration in November, Doodles experienced a floor price surge – alongside much of the NFT market – rising from 1.20 ETH ($3,750 USD) on November 10, 2024 to 6.59 ETH ($22,880 USD) on December 21, 2024. This was driven by the reveal of the upcoming $DOOD token.

2025 has seen the announcement of Doodles founder Burnt Toast stepping into the CEO role, a cryptic ‘dark mode’ teaser, and the impending reveal of a new direction for the collection – with the DreamNet protocol revealed on March 27.