Dogwifhat’s Original Pink Beanie Sells for $800K to Memecoin Founder

Dogwifhat’s Original Pink Beanie Sells for $800K to Memecoin Founder

The original pink knitted beanie made famous by the Dogwifhat meme has a new owner. The hat — worn by Achi, the Shiba Inu at the heart of the viral image — sold for 6.8 BTC (about $794,000) in an online auction hosted by Bitcoin Ordinals marketplace Ord City.

Original Hat from Dogwifhat Meme (2018)
We are auctioning the original pink hat worn by Achi, the Shiba Inu behind the viral “Dogwifhat” meme, a one of a kind cultural artifact that helped define a generation of internet Meme history. This is the first and only time the actual, physical hat from the Meme will be made available to the public to find a new home. This iconic piece has never been offered before and may never be again. To ensure its authenticity and legacy, a photo of Achi and his parents sitting behind the hat, was inscribed on the Bitcoin blockchain via Ordinals to verify provenance prior to the auction. About “Dogwifhat“ Meme According to know your meme „Dogwifhat“ Meme refers to an image of a Shiba Inu dog, named Achi wearing a pink knitted hat. The meme became widely known for its absurd and endearing caption style, including misspellings like “dog wif hat.” The image began circulating on social media platforms like Reddit and Twitter around late 2020, often used in ironic or surreal meme formats. It has since grown into one of the most recognizable internet memes of the past several years, even inspiring a cryptocurrency named $WIF (dogwifhat), which reached a multi-billion-dollar market cap during it’s peak. About Achi and the Hat Born on September 15, 2018, Achi’s charming personality quickly won over everyone around him. The pink wool hat was handcrafted by Achi’s owner using yarn that was originally intended for donation. Before ever being used in a photo, the hat served briefly as a Christmas decoration. On November 17, 2018, Achi’s parents took a playful photo of him wearing the hat, which was then uploaded by a close friend to Instagram, marking the first appearance of what would later become a global meme. About Provenance history: In 2024, the meme image was sold as an NFT on Foundation.app for 1,210.759ETH (at the time $4.3 million USD). The sale was organized and verified by the Bureau of Internet culture, a DAO focused on preserving internet cultural artifacts To further verify the authenticity of the hat, we’re including a set of high-resolution photos, featuring never before seen images of Achi, as well as recent shots of him next to the hat alongside a handwritten, date-marked verification note. Additionally, a video was recorded prior to the auction in which Achi’s owners share the backstory of the meme and the provenance of the hat. This lot includes: Physical Good: Dimensions: 12.5 x 12.5 x 10 (cm) Weight: 0.09 (kg) Materials: wool Item Type: Art Collectible No Reserve Join the Scarce City Banter Telegram channel for auction updates, commentary, and sat giveaways.

The winning bidder was “Finn,” the pseudonymous founder of Solana-based memecoin launchpad Bags, who outpaced two strong competitors during the 48-hour bidding war.

“We’ve acquired a $1B hat for just $0.7M,” Finn posted on X, adding the beanie to the Bags brand avatar.

Auction Drama and Community Ties

The event wasn’t without hiccups. At one point, Ord City paused bidding after prank offers were submitted — including one for the entire 21 million BTC supply. To curb the disruption, the platform raised its collateral requirements before resuming the auction.

Finn revealed that part of the purchase was funded by trading fees from a Bags-deployed token called BUY THE HAT, which surged over 700% in value in the past day, reaching a $7.8 million market cap, according to DEX Screener. He hinted the hat would be “returned to the community in some way,” possibly linking it to the token.

From Christmas Decoration to Crypto Icon

The pink beanie began life as a handmade Christmas decoration and first appeared on Achi in a November 2018 Instagram post. The image spread quickly across Reddit and Twitter in 2020, eventually inspiring the WIF cryptocurrency on Solana in late 2023.

Ord City authenticated the hat through high-resolution images and a video tracing its journey from Achi’s owners. In a post congratulating Finn, the owners called it “a lucky charm” that had “traveled across chains, timelines, and communities,” connecting fans of the meme worldwide.

Not the Meme’s Biggest Payday

While the $800K sale is significant, it’s well below the $4.3 million fetched by the Dogwifhat meme’s original photo NFT in March 2024. That auction, held on Foundation, saw crypto trader Gigantic Rebirth Ventures secure the winning bid of 1,210.8 ETH.

Achi, the dog wif hat | ACHI, THE DOG WIF HAT | Etherscan
Achi, the dog wif hat | ACHI, THE DOG WIF HAT | Etherscan

At press time, WIF is trading at $0.92 — up 3.2% in 24 hours but still down more than 70% from its peak during the NFT sale hype. Despite the drop, it maintains a market cap close to $1 billion.

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