The NFT industry is known for its absurdity, but this story about CryptoKitties surpasses all expectations. What began as an innocent hobby of collecting digital cats turned into a nightmare for one couple.
The Beginning of the End: “A $1,000 Kitty”
Mikhail, a 32-year-old IT specialist from Moscow, had been into NFTs since 2019. At the time of the story, he owned an impressive collection of CryptoKitties, proudly showing off his “ultra-rare” virtual pet named GlowSparkleZilla. This particular cat had rare “attributes”: sparkling eyes, a rainbow tail, and a mysterious grin.
Mikhail assured his fiancée, Alena, that this cat wasn’t just “pixel nonsense” but an investment. He bought it for 2 ETH (about $1,000 at the time), confidently claiming, “This cat will make us millionaires. You’ll thank me later!” Alena, being practical, was skeptical but let it slide: “As long as his hobby doesn’t interfere with the wedding.”
Little did she know, it would soon interfere in the worst way.
The First Red Flag
The trouble started a month before the wedding when Mikhail accidentally discovered that GlowSparkleZilla could breed. Yes, in the world of CryptoKitties, “breeding” cats is one of the main features. Mikhail had a brilliant idea: “I’ll breed kittens and sell them to pay for the wedding banquet!”
Excited, he spent the entire night “breeding” GlowSparkleZilla with dozens of other virtual cats. However, in his enthusiasm, Mikhail overlooked the fact that each breeding attempt required paying a transaction fee in Ethereum.
The next day, when Alena checked their joint bank account (where Mikhail had transferred the wedding funds), she was horrified to find $7,000 missing. Mikhail sheepishly explained that it was just a “temporary expense.”
Alena, nearly canceling the wedding, decided to “let it go,” reasoning that “love is more important than money, even if the money was spent on a pixelated cat.”
The Cat That Exploded at the Worst Moment
Everything seemed to return to normal until the day before the wedding, when Mikhail decided to check on his CryptoKitty collection. That’s when disaster struck.
The CryptoKitties platform experienced a bug. GlowSparkleZilla, his “most valuable asset,” disappeared from his collection. Mikhail panicked, frantically contacting support, writing angry tweets to the developers, and flooding the Discord community with messages.
Meanwhile, the evening before the wedding, Alena was waiting for her fiancé at the final rehearsal. Mikhail arrived three hours late and declared, “There will be no wedding until GlowSparkleZilla is found!”
The Wedding on the Brink
The situation reached a breaking point when, on the morning of the wedding, Mikhail barricaded himself in his room, refusing to go to the registry office until his “investment” was restored. Alena burst into the room, yelling, “You’re about to lose not just your cat but also your bride!”
Mikhail promised to “fix everything” and swore he would go to the ceremony—but only after checking Reddit one last time.
Saving the Kitty
Among the wedding guests was Mikhail’s friend Alexey, a blockchain-savvy programmer. He discovered that due to Ethereum network congestion, the data for GlowSparkleZilla was temporarily “lost” but the cat wasn’t gone—it was merely “stuck” in the system.
Mikhail, tearfully hugging his friend, rushed to reassure Alena. “It’s all sorted! GlowSparkleZilla is back!” he declared, showing his phone with the pixelated cat on the screen.
Alena, according to the guests, smiled for the first time that day but warned, “If that cat ever interferes with our lives again, I’ll delete it myself!”
Epilogue
The wedding went ahead, but Mikhail still jokes that GlowSparkleZilla was the most “expensive” cat of his life. Meanwhile, the value of the cat increased to $1,500, but Mikhail is too afraid to sell it: “What if it disappears again?”
This story went viral in the CryptoKitties community, turning GlowSparkleZilla into a local legend.
So, the next time you think your hobbies are weird, just remember Mikhail and his adventures with a pixelated cat that nearly ruined a real wedding.
GlowSparkleZilla: The Legend Lives On
It’s 2025, and GlowSparkleZilla is still part of Mikhail’s collection. Over the years, this virtual cat has become a symbol of perseverance, family compromises, and… a strange love for pixelated creatures.
New Attempts to Make a Profit
After the wedding, Mikhail tried once again to turn his famous cat into a source of income. In 2023, the NFT market surged, and Mikhail received several offers from collectors willing to pay up to 5 ETH for GlowSparkleZilla. However, he refused to sell, haunted by memories of the 2021 nightmare.
“I can’t sell him,” he told his friends. “He’s not just an investment; he’s part of our family history. And who knows? Maybe he’ll be worth even more in a few years.”
Alena, watching her husband, would simply add, “As long as this cat doesn’t become more expensive than our apartment.”
GlowSparkleZilla on Social Media
In 2024, Mikhail created Instagram and TikTok accounts for GlowSparkleZilla. Unexpectedly, they became a success: the accounts gathered over 200,000 followers. Mikhail began posting the cat’s “adventures,” creating memes, and collaborating with other CryptoKitty owners for “virtual crossovers.”
The income from brand deals with Web3 companies helped the couple pay off their mortgage—a development Alena said was the only acceptable outcome of the entire ordeal.
The Platform Strikes Again
At the beginning of 2025, the CryptoKitties platform experienced another glitch. Some users complained that their rare cats started “breeding” without their consent, creating hundreds of identical NFTs. However, GlowSparkleZilla miraculously avoided this fate. Mikhail insists it’s a sign: “My cat is special! He survives where others fail!”
What’s Next?
Today, GlowSparkleZilla is valued at around 10 ETH (approximately $15,000). Yet, Mikhail still refuses to sell, despite encouragement from his friends. He’s considering turning the cat into part of a virtual NFT museum or using him as a basis for creating his own small game.
Meanwhile, Alena has found a way to cope with her husband’s obsession: she bought her own CryptoKitty. Ironically, her cat, MuffinByte, turned out to be less valuable, but now the couple hosts “family tournaments of pixel breeding.”
The Legend Lives On
GlowSparkleZilla remains a symbol of family drama, good fortune, and unwavering belief in the digital future. Mikhail says, “This cat changed my life. Without him, we wouldn’t have a story to tell our kids.”
So GlowSparkleZilla is not just a cat but living (albeit virtual) proof that even pixels can create big stories.