PLBY Group (PLBY), the parent company of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy, said it suffered a $4.9 million impairment loss on Ethereum, which it held last year, as prices for the cryptocurrency dropped significantly.
The lifestyle and media company said it accepted Ethereum as payment for its 2021 non-playable tokens “Rabbitars” (NFTs), which it holds as digital assets on its balance sheet. The digital assets are worth $327,000 as of last year, the statement said.
According to a previous report, the company had $1.75 million in digital assets as of Sept. 30 of last year.
The company explained that it accounts for its digital assets as “indefinite-lived intangible assets,” which are subject to impairment if the assets’ fair value falls below their carrying value at any time. The impairment losses the company incurs on its digital assets cannot be recovered even if the fair value of the assets increases after the impairment losses are accepted.
The company launched its NFT “Rabbitar” project in October 2021, during the peak of the cryptocurrency market. Ether, Ethereum’s native token, has lost about 60% in value since October 2021.
Earlier in 2021, Playboy entered the NFT and blockchain technology industry with its NFT drop called “Liquid Summer,” which is a collection of digital artwork created in collaboration with artist Slimesunday. The collection, which was minted in May 2021, features archival photos of Playboy model Lena Sjöblom, the so-called “First Lady of the Internet.”
However, these NFT issues were not the company’s first foray into the world of digital assets. In 2018, Playboy TV began accepting bitcoin payments. In June, bitcoin payments spread to Playboy.com.