NFTs Are on ‘Ellen’ – This Time as Performers

A band of non-fungible tokens will perform Tuesday on Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show in what the project is calling the first NFT performance of its kind.

The characters are derived from the Milkyway Pirates NFT collection, created by pop artist Kiesza, who will be performing alongside the band.

The non-fungible charade is a part of the rollout for Kiesza’s new record, “Tommy,” which is set to release shortly after the episode airs.

During the set, the characters will perform what the project calls “Meta Moves,” which are interoperable dance emotes, or moves, that pay royalties to their creators, according to a press release.

In the push for mainstream NFT adoption, talk show television has done its fair share of promotion for the technology as a cultural phenomenon.

DeGeneres first discussed NFTs on her show in April 2021 in a Dogecoin-themed interview with billionaire investor and crypto enthusiast Mark Cuban. The famed talk show host would go on to auction off a hand-drawn NFT of her own later in the show, which ultimately sold for $33,500.

More recently there was the Bored Ape Yacht Club appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” where he and Paris Hilton discussed their new apes along with Moonpay, to the chagrin of many viewers.

Earlier in March, it was announced that music artist Ape Rave Club would be headlining the Tomorrowland music festival, which will be the first time an “NFT artist” performs live at a music festival.

The Milkyway Pirates collection received seed investment from QGlobe, a metaverse and Web 3 accelerator program.

“The Milkyway Pirates is an ambitious project that aims to set world records to innovate in music, blockchain, and space exploration,” Kiesza said in a press release. “Funding aside, [QGlobe’s] metaverse and Web 3 backgrounds have turned this project into a serious contender.”