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> In fact, someone can "sell" an NFT to themself in a wash trade between two wallets they control. The last trade price of the NFT is now recorded as the transaction price, but it's possible that money never actually changed hands.

I heard rumors this is what happened with the Beeple nft

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Beeple actually got paid, though, and (smartly) cashed it all out into fiat.

...and then returned it quietly to the person who had loaned it to him temporarily to elevate his brand?

That's at least riskier to do with "fiat" (not that it would be legal with blockchain money either).

Why would it be illegal? Wash sales of NFTs aren’t illegal, as far as I understand. It could be a legitimate marketing procedure.

Huh, I didn't know that. Geez, this is scammier than I thought, and it was already pretty scammy.

E: I looked around a bit and can't find any source for this, so I guess it's just a rumor?

Hence the question mark. I imagine most high profile NFT sales are simply wash sales for the publicity.

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