Thursday, December 8, resulted in Scott + Scott Attorneys at Law LLP filing a law suit against people promoting the Bored Ape NFTs. The complaint was against Yuga Labs Inc, more commonly known for promoting the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection.
The other defendants are celebrities with the accusation of hyping up the value of Yuga Labs NFTs. According to a Deadline report, some of the defendants are Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton, Madonna, Jimmy Fallon, and Kevin Hart.
An article posted in 2017 from the US Securities and Exchange Commission summarized the charges included. “Celebrities and others use social media networks to encourage the public to purchase stocks and other investments. These endorsements may be unlawful if they do not disclose the nature, source, and amount of any compensation paid, directly or indirectly, by the company in exchange for the endorsement.”
The law suit gave evidence and documentation regarding the Bored Ape NFT collection and the celebrities promoting it. Firstly, showing how Yuga Labs used MoonPay as an intermediary to pay the individuals advertising the Bored Ape NFT collection.
MoonPay was initially an NFT exchange for celebrities along with investors. Although, the complaint mentions the avenue was mostly used for the compensation of celebrity incomes of Yuga Labs NFTs. All of this done behind the back of investors.
The complaint says that Yuga Labs and Guy Osear formed MoonPay to serve as middlemen. The plaintiffs have requested a jury trial on these accusations. In addition, they are also requesting compensation for anyone who lost money after acquiring Yuga’s NFTs or its cryptocurrency, ApeCoin, beginning on April 23, 2021.