After Elon Musk shared a meme featuring artwork from the Milady non-fungible token (NFT) collection on May 10, the floor prices of Milady NFTs saw a sharp increase. The prices climbed from 3.8 Ether (ETH) to a high of 7.3 ETH, before settling at 5.69 ETH per piece at the time of writing.
The Milady NFT collection, created in 2021 by the digital arts collective Remilia, consists of 10,000 anime profile picture NFTs inspired by street style tribes. The series was designed by artist Charlotte Fang, who also founded the Remilia decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
The name “Milady” is a play on “my lady,” which historically served as a respectful form of address for noblewomen but has taken on satirical connotations in internet forums, often related to overzealous chivalry and “nice guys.” Elon Musk had previously referenced the name in a tweet, stating, “my shield is yours.”
In May 2022, the floor prices of Milady NFTs experienced a significant drop of over 50% due to allegations surrounding Charlotte Fang’s involvement in fringe ideologies on 4chan. Fang acknowledged the authenticity of the alleged screenshots but clarified that her actions had never caused harm. She subsequently stepped down from the team.
Despite the controversies, the Milady collection remains popular within Web 3 communities. Apart from Elon Musk’s promotion, Su Zhu, co-founder of the bankrupt Singaporean hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, actively collects Milady NFTs and frequently promotes the collection to his followers. Currently, the Milady collection has amassed a cumulative trading volume of 39,659 ETH on the OpenSea platform.
