The New Year Buzz

2026 kicked off with a bang in the Ethereum world thanks to none other than Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum! This guy decided to jazz up his X (previously known as Twitter) profile by swapping his old pic for a snazzy Milady Maker avatar right at the start of the year. Talk about starting the year with style!

Price Surge Alert!

As soon as this avatar makeover hit the web around 8:00 a.m. Beijing time, all eyes in the crypto and NFT sphere started popping. The reaction? A staggering 50% spike in the floor price of the Milady NFT collection. And that’s not all! The trading volume soared by over 100%, hitting nearly $500,000. It seems people still hang on every word (and image) from the Ethereum big shots!

Vitalik’s Message

“Welcome to 2026! Milady is back!” Vitalik exclaimed in his X post, pairing his avatar update with some reflections on what Ethereum achieved last year. The NFT market is like a high school drama – super sensitive to the whispers of influential developers! Vitalik also highlighted Ethereum’s triumphs in 2025 with smoother transactions thanks to better gas limits and swanky upgrades like zkEVMs.

Speculation Station

With conversations buzzing about his avatar change, some folks speculated that there’s more to this than meets the eye. Could it be that Vitalik’s got some grand plans for NFTs and data on Ethereum? After all, he’s notorious for updating his avatars to hype up projects or just for kicks. Remember back in early 2025 when he made waves with a Milady Maker NFT avatar? Yep, that also sent prices skyrocketing.

The NFT Controversy

Now fast forward to today, and some people are scratching their heads wondering how this little profile pic change could rattle the Milady community and the market at large. Launched back in 2021, the Milady Maker NFT project, crafted by the Remilia Corporation, has become a hot topic not just for its art, but for all the drama surrounding it. With 10,000 limited generative PFP NFTs sporting a cool 2000s Tokyo “neochibi” vibe, it’s hard not to be intrigued!

Beeple Joins the Party

As if this avatar switch wasn’t enough to stir the pot, renowned digital artist Beeple jumped in on January 2, 2026, giving a shout-out to Vitalik’s new look in his daily artwork. Now, that’s star-studded! Beeple hinted that Vitalik might be “cooking” something important on the Ethereum blockchain with the Milady Maker crew. Throw in the caption “TIME TO COOK,” and bam! Market speculation just went through the roof!

Final Thoughts

The ripple effects of just one profile picture change from Vitalik emphasize how intertwined sentiment, culture, and liquidity are in the wild world of NFTs. While there’s no solid announcement yet from either Vitalik or the Milady team about future plans, it’s safe to say that traders and collectors will keep their eyes peeled on Buterin’s next moves, alongside creative legends like Beeple. This little incident reminds us how much a single image can do in the sprawling universe of digital art and collectibles!