LimeWire Acquires Fyre Festival, Plans Fresh Start With a Crypto Spin

LimeWire has acquired Fyre Festival, eight years after what is widely regarded as the most disastrous attempt ever at throwing a festival. Previously led by founder Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule, LimeWire has gutted the Fyre team and is plotting a fresh, crypto-fueled start for the controversial brand.

Julian Zehetmayr, CEO of LimeWire, told Decrypt that acquisition costs totaled approximately $230,000. He warned that the team’s plans are still in their infancy as they pin down specifics in the coming months, and that he expects a more detailed announcement to be released in early 2026.

What the CEO did confirm, however, is that LimeWire plans for there to be a physical event of some kind and that crypto will definitely play a role in the festival’s new chapter.

“The plan is really to properly and deeply integrate the LimeWire token into what we’re doing with Fyre,” Zehetmayr told Decrypt. “We definitely want to do some kind of redemption for old holders of tickets as well. I think that’s something where you could involve crypto or even NFTs.”

That said, he warned there are “no exact plans yet,” but confirmed that the team will “definitely” integrate the LimeWire token in some way. Zehetmayr also didn’t rule out the chances of an AI musician as a headliner, depending on how easy it will be to attract “real talent” with the Fyre brand.

People may remember LimeWire as the popular early 2000s peer-to-peer music sharing service. It was known as a breeding ground for pirated music and viruses, later becoming an icon of the early internet. However, it shut down in 2011 after losing a piracy legal battle with the Recording Industry Association of America.

In 2022, LimeWire was relaunched as an NFT marketplace with new owners and Zehetmayr at the helm. It has since moved closer to its roots, with the CEO comparing it to WeTransfer with a “decentralized backend” and an Ethereum token to boot. The company believes the relaunch has been a success, claiming that it attracts 2.5 million active monthly users.

After Music NFT Relaunch, LimeWire Is Adding AI Tools—Here’s Why

Fyre Festival, by comparison, is arguably one of the best-known festivals in the world—for all the wrong reasons. It was branded as a luxurious event hosted on a private island, advertised by big celebs, and said to be full of “the best in food, art, music, and adventure.” Tickets cost guests up to $100,000.