​Steve Aoki halts set to show off new $859,000 NFT

Steve Aoki’s burning passion for NFTs has come back into the spotlight after he was seen stopping a live show to show off his latest purchase.

The American DJ pulled up a picture of the $859,000 NFT which he recently purchased from famed illustrator doodles and began to show the crowd from his phone.

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Aoki paused the music and told the crowd: “Check this little gorgeous alien out.”

“Look at him! I had to stop the music because I’m so fucking excited,” he said, turning his phone to an enormous crowd. “This is the Steve Aoki doodle, take a good look guys!”

Aoki tweeted out the video after the gig to make sure no one missed out on the near million dollar NFT, adding: “Had to stop my show to celebrate my excitement on my doodle! NFTs make me feel like a kid again.”

According to Rarity Sniper, Steve Aoki bagged the alien doodle for just 269.69 ETH — or $859,000. What a bargain!

After the sale, Aoki tweeted: “Just purchased the 9th rarest doodles in existence! There are only 10 alien type doodles ever created and I own one of them now! Welcome #2238 to the family!”

Since Aoki's purchase, the floor price for doodle’s lucrative collection has shot up by more than 60%. The collection includes over 10,000 "doodles" - one of which is allegedly owned by Snoop Dogg.

Steve Aoki is known for his devotion to the NFT domain, recently launching his own NFT marketplace alongside comic book author Todd McFarlane named Oddkey.

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Speaking to Forbes on the project, Aoki said: “I’d been wanting to collaborate with him for years. This was the perfect way to do it, to build a marketplace that resembles what he's already been doing for decades, but for the digital landscape, NFTs.”

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter