Kanye West Trademarks YEEZUS for Potential NFT Debut

The new filing suggests West may have come around from his previous anti-NFT stance. 

Kanye Shifts Stance on NFTs

Kayne West could be preparing to launch NFTs and other blockchain-based tokens, a new filing suggests.

United States Patent and Trademark Office documents revealed Wednesday that the award-winning artist had filed 17 new trademark applications, including one that specifically covers blockchain-based non-fungible assets, currencies, and tokens. 

The application, dated May 27, seeks to secure West’s YEEZUS trademark for use in providing an online marketplace for buyers of cryptocurrencies, digital collectibles, and blockchain-based non-fungible collectibles, assets, currencies, and tokens. The 16 other applications concerning the YEEZUS logo cover a wide range of uses, including amusement parks, physical and online retail stores, toys, games, sporting equipment, clothing, and cosmetics. 

The recent filings appear to mark a possible turnaround from West’s previous stance on non-fungible tokens. In a since-deleted Instagram post from Feb. 1, West told followers to “stop asking” him to create NFTs, stating he was more interested in “building real products in the real world.” However, West ended his post with “ask me later,” indicating that he wasn’t completely closed to the idea of launching NFTs in the future. 

Now, it appears that Kanye West-themed NFTs may be on the table after all. Those in the NFT community have long speculated that West would get involved with NFTs sooner or later, citing successful launches from other prominent musicians. In February, Snoop Dogg launched his most recent NFT collection, “The Doggies,” in partnership with Metaverse game The Sandbox, bringing in approximately $4.3 million in initial sales. Elsewhere, the Nike-owned RTFKT Studios has found success selling digital sneaker NFTs, leading to speculation that West could also follow a similar path with his line of YEEZY sneakers. 

As there are several possible directions West could go in utilizing digital assets, it’s not yet clear what, if anything, the musician will do first with the new trademark filings. Regardless, both NFT enthusiasts and Kayne West fans alike will be watching closely for a follow-up announcement in the coming weeks. 

Disclosure: At the time of writing this piece, the author owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.