Charlotte Fang: From Controversial Creator to Milady's Polarizing Leader

Charlotte Fang has become one of the most talked-about figures in the NFT space, a creator whose influence extends far beyond digital art into the broader culture of blockchain communities. His journey with the Milady NFT project and the subsequent CULT token launch has captured industry attention, though often amid significant controversy and debate about his role as a community leader and content creator.

Building an Empire: Charlotte Fang’s Path from Yayo to Milady

Before establishing himself as a major force in NFT culture, Charlotte Fang (formerly known as Krishna Okhandiar) had already experimented with blockchain projects. His earliest known venture was an NFT project called Yayo, which bore similarities to emerging Meme coins but achieved minimal traction and quickly faded from the spotlight.

It wasn’t until August 2021 that Charlotte Fang launched what would become his defining project: Milady. The concept was deceptively simple—a pixelated, cartoon-style NFT series with a roadmap focused primarily on building a Minecraft-like virtual server. Despite its modest initial vision, the project resonated unexpectedly well with early adopters.

The market response was swift. By April 2022, Milady had climbed to a floor price of 1.55 ETH, establishing itself among the second tier of blue-chip NFT collections. The ecosystem began expanding rapidly, with growing community engagement and trading activity sustaining the project’s momentum through the early stages of the broader crypto downturn.

The Miya Controversy: When Art Meets Accusation

Just as Milady’s trajectory seemed assured, a significant controversy erupted. In May 2022, the DefiLlama founder publicly revealed that Charlotte Fang was behind a virtual identity called Miya—a Twitter account that had posted numerous comments aligned with racist, homophobic, and white nationalist rhetoric.

The revelation sent shockwaves through both the NFT and cryptocurrency communities. Milady’s floor price collapsed to 0.26 ETH in the aftermath, reflecting market skepticism and community concern. The incident appeared to threaten everything Charlotte Fang had built with the project.

Rather than engaging in public dialogue about the allegations, Charlotte Fang initially responded with silence and apparent indifference. However, his stance shifted. He subsequently published a public response characterizing the Miya account posts as performance art—a social experiment designed to provoke rather than promote. He asserted that the inflammatory content did not represent his actual beliefs and that his remarks had been widely misunderstood.

The market’s reaction proved telling. Many in the community chose to believe his explanation, and Milady’s price began recovering. Critical voices within the industry gradually quieted, and the project entered a period of relative stability. While some holders had exited during the turmoil, a committed core of believers remained, effectively preserving the community through the challenging 2022-2023 period. For nearly a year, Milady maintained stable trading activity and price levels, suggesting that the event—though damaging—had not permanently fractured the community’s foundation.

Elon Musk’s Unexpected Endorsement: A Turning Point for Milady

On May 10, 2023, Elon Musk posted a seemingly casual tweet featuring Milady emoji artwork, accompanying it with the text “There is no meme, I love you.” The post appeared unplanned and lacked explicit mention of the NFT project, yet it served as a catalyst for Milady’s next major price surge.

The mechanism behind Musk’s engagement remains somewhat mysterious. According to Charlotte Fang, the SpaceX and Tesla founder may have encountered her research on VR, AR technologies, and related innovation trends through social platforms or shared circles. Regardless of the origin, the endorsement’s impact proved undeniable.

Following Musk’s post, Milady’s floor price skyrocketed. Within three months, the project had climbed to rank as the second-highest floor price among 10K-trait PFP (Profile Picture) NFT collections, trailing only established behemoths like Cryptopunks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). The growth trajectory demonstrated the project’s durability and the resilience of its community despite prior controversies.

Despite the Drama: Milady’s Resilience and the CULT Token Milestone

The success brought fresh complications. In September 2023, Charlotte Fang filed a lawsuit against three internal team members, marking a period of internal tension that received limited public disclosure. The specific details of the dispute and its underlying causes remained largely opaque to the broader community. However, by early 2024, Charlotte Fang voluntarily withdrew the legal action, effectively closing that chapter.

In mid-2023, Charlotte Fang launched CULT, a Meme coin companion to the Milady ecosystem. The project’s token sale concluded with 5,861.8 ETH raised during the pre-sale phase—equivalent to approximately $20 million at the time. The successful fundraising underscored the loyalty and financial commitment of Charlotte Fang’s community supporters, despite the accumulated controversies and setbacks.

Currently, Milady maintains its standing among the most valuable 10K PFP NFT collections, consistently ranking in the top positions by floor price. The collection remains one of the few blue-chip NFTs that regularly receives external airdrops from other projects, a marker of sustained influence and community size. These achievements stand as testament to both the community’s commitment and Charlotte Fang’s ability to retain follower loyalty amid ongoing skepticism.

The Enigma Remains

Assessing Charlotte Fang’s impact presents a paradox that reflects broader tensions within NFT culture itself. Is he an architect of authentic community and cultural innovation, or a provocateur whose inflammatory rhetoric masks less defensible intentions? The answer likely depends on one’s perspective within the crypto ecosystem.

What remains undeniable is Charlotte Fang’s distinctive presence on social media. His Twitter activity is immediately recognizable—each post carries the cadence of a community manifesto, carefully calibrated to energize followers while simultaneously courting controversy. He has demonstrated mastery of internet attention dynamics and community mobilization, qualities that have sustained Milady through multiple existential challenges.

As the CULT token develops and Charlotte Fang’s next projects emerge, the broader industry watches with a mixture of intrigue and wariness. Whether his future endeavors will invite similar controversies, replicate his market success, or chart unexpected directions remains an open question in the evolving story of NFT culture and its most polarizing figures.