• Coinbase paid $25 million in USDC for Cobie’s UpOnly NFT.
• The deal will see the UpOnly podcast return with eight new episodes.
• Coby joked about his return and stated the sale was “too ridiculous.”

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has confirmed that he bought “UpOnly” NFTs from well-known dealer and podcaster Jordan “Coby” Fish for $25 million.

The acquisition not solely marks Coinbase’s main foray into NFT-driven media, but additionally units the stage for the long-awaited return of the UpOnly podcast after a three-year hiatus.

Armstrong introduced the acquisition in a put up on X, writing, “The rumors are true. We acquired NFT. UpOnlyTV is coming again.”

The transaction, recorded on-chain, exhibits that Coinbase paid Cobie 25 million USDC for the tokens, an quantity that stunned many within the crypto neighborhood given the tongue-in-cheek origins of NFTs.

$25 million NFT

UpOnly NFTs had been by no means meant on the market. When Covey minted it in Could 2025, he framed it as a part of a humorous problem, declaring that the present would solely return if somebody purchased and burned an NFT.

“Energy is now saved inside this NFT,” Covey wrote on the time. “As soon as it burns, the podcast will resume.”

To verify nobody truly purchased it, Coby set the value outrageously excessive, including zeros till it seemed inconceivable to purchase, at the same time as a joke.

Nonetheless, Coinbase not solely purchased the NFTs, however reportedly paid greater than the listed value.

On the time, the change by chance triggered a “burn and revive” situation, forcing Covey and co-host Ledger to return to the microphone on eight new episodes of UpOnlyTV.

From joke to $25 million actuality

The NFT’s description is written in Coby’s trademark humor and provides its proprietor the correct to “drive Coby and Leisure Standing to seem on eight episodes of UpOnlyTV like a monkey.”

It can even be attainable to “name the customer silly” or ignore them fully throughout manufacturing.

What began as a parody of NFT tradition is now a high-stakes contract tied to one of many world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges.

For Coinbase, this transaction represents greater than the acquisition of a meme.

The corporate is positioning the acquisition as a part of its rising content material and media technique, an effort to have interaction audiences past buying and selling and change companies.

Coinbase is experimenting with how NFTs can mix digital possession, creator incentives, and leisure by marrying the resurgence of fashionable podcasts with blockchain expertise.

The rise, fall, and resurgence of UpOnly

UpOnly first launched through the 2021 bull market hosted by Cobie and Ledger.

This podcast has change into a staple of cryptocurrency tradition because of its candid conversations with merchants, fund managers, and venture founders.

Friends incessantly mentioned market traits with a mixture of sharp perception and irreverent humor, serving to the present stand out in an more and more noisy media panorama.

Nonetheless, the present went silent in 2022 following the collapse of FTX and the widespread downturn in cryptocurrencies.

For 3 years, followers puzzled if UpOnly would ever return. Coby repeatedly stated “no” till a playful NFT thought modified all the things.

Now, with the acquisition of Coinbase, a revival of the present is formally underway.

In line with NFT phrases, Covey and Ledger will produce an eight-episode season beginning Oct. 21, 2025, roughly three years after the podcast goes darkish.

In true Covey trend, the dealer reacted to the $25 million windfall with dry humor. “It has been three years since UpOnly ended,” he wrote to X.

“I used to be in my 20s when this illness began, and now I’ve grey hair.” He joked that he would possibly change the title of the present to “Unc Solely” and spend the NFT proceeds on beauty surgical procedure earlier than the primary episode.

However behind the joke lies probably the most uncommon media offers in crypto historical past: one which turned a meme right into a multi-million greenback media deal.