Heidi Klum owns a Cryptopunk. How it got to her wallet is a bit odd. (Updated)
Bitclout investor Reade Seiff in the middle of a possible endorsement deal between Klum and the Afterparty NFT project
A few hours ago, Heidi Klum became the latest celebrity to jump on board the Web3.0 train when she unveiled her latest acquisition: A blond-haired female "Cryptopunk,” NFT.
However, as usual, who paid for the NFT in question- last sold on the open market for 80 Ethereum (Eth)- is difficult to ascertain. Indeed, whether the NFT was even sold is an even better question…
On December 24, 2021, crypto investor and entrepreneur Reade Seiff purchased Cryptopunk 3653 from “longestview.eth” for 80 Eth, or ~$324,000 at time of purchase. Mr. Seiff celebrated this purchase on social media:
About a month later, Mr. Seiff shared an image of himself and Heidi Klum with the caption “@heidiklum - officially a Utopian.” This was a reference to an NFT project called Afterparty, which Mr. Seiff is an investor in. In the background, you can see images from the “Afterparty Utopians” NFT collection, currently in the late stages of being launched. It’s interesting to note that Mr. Seiff only posted this image to his Bitclout page and not other social media sites.
Thirteen days later, Mr. Seiff’s known wallet “reade.eth” transferred Cryptopunk #3653 into wallet (0x46316E…). He did not receive any payment in return. Eight minutes after transferring the NFT, “reade.eth” transferred 0.1 Eth into wallet (0x46316E…). Wallet (0x46316E…) then paid to register one ENS token in the name “heidiklumofficial.eth.” Minutes later, “reade.eth” received 99.9 Ethereum from wallet (0x061ec7…), which had been funded 2 days earlier with a transfer from Gemini. This payment is worth ~$324,000, almost exactly what Mr. Seiff paid for Cryptopunk 3653 45 days ago.
So, to review, Mr. Seiff sent Cryptopunk 3653 to a second wallet. He then paid for this second wallet to register its name as “heidiklumofficial.eth.” Finally, he received 99.9 ethereum, with a present-day dollar value approximately equal to the amount he paid for Cryptopunk 3653, from a third wallet. This is undeniably weird.
It’s possible that Klum did, in fact, pay $324,000 for this NFT. However, it is strange for Klum to use one wallet to pay and a second wallet to receive the NFT. Second, if Klum has access to one hundred ethereum, why did Mr. Seiff pay to register Ms. Klum’s ENS? And it seems rather odd that Mr. Seiff would sell a prized possession at cost…
So who is Mr. Seiff? He’s an angel investor, crypto entrepreneur, “managing member" of Sunset Digital Asset Management, and big-spending NFT collector.
According to a recent podcast featuring Mr. Seiff, many of his ventures are built around his involvement in BitClout, a controversial crypto-based social media site. BitClout sold tokens corresponding to different celebrities, ostensibly to use the power of the free market choose which BitClout personalities had the most… bitclout? Anyway, BitClout eventually floundered after it was revealed that they had never asked for permission from the various people listed on their platform. It was then rebranded as “Deso, The Decentralized Social Blockchain.”
One of Mr. Seiff’s more recent projects is “Afterparty,” a project that sells NFTs as a “gateway into the entire Afterparty universe.” Afterparty recently raised $3 million in November of last year to fund its efforts:
Afterparty has some NFT believers in the form of its investors. Acrew Capital and TenOneTen Ventures led the round, with participation from Palm Tree Crew, Act One Ventures, Hex Capital, Red Light Management, and angel investors including Dylan and Brandon Lee, Louis Beryl, Dave Bonanno, Craig Clemens, Reade Seiff, and Alex Kassan. The funding will be used to accelerate product development for its Web 3 platform, which provides creators with the tools necessary for direct monetization using NFTs.
The Afterparty universe includes the Afterparty House in the Hollywood Hills, a luxury residence (where the picture with Klum and Seiff was taken.) Soon, the Afterparty team will apparently organize the world’s first NFT-gated music festival in Las Vegas, coming in March 2022:

The rest of the Afterparty project is still under development, with their website stating that, “The Afterparty Roadmap will be unveiled over time.” However, the project’s next steps appear to be issuing lower-grade Guardian NFTs, special NFT projects, and an Afterparty Token. Lots of opportunities, at least for Mr. Seiff and his colleagues to make lots of money!
While this is speculation, there is pretty strong circumstantial evidence suggesting that Ms. Klum’s recent announcement was staged to promote the Afterparty NFT brand. With her joining Afterparty less than two weeks before her “acquiring” Cryptopunk 3653 at cost, from an investor in Afterparty who also paid to register her wallet’s name… and who quite possibly controls “Heidi’s” wallet… but who knows!
Hopefully, either Ms. Klum or the Afterparty team will clarify the precise nature of their relationship. Regardless, expect to Ms. Klum and/or the Afterparty social media accounts hyping her involvement in the project soon….
Postscript:
Less than an hour after this article was posted to Twitter, the Afterparty social media team blocked us. Perhaps our speculation hit close to home?
*This article was originally published under a different title