Different celebrities such as Jimmy Fallon, Justin Bieber or Gwyneth Paltrow were sued for promoting NFT “fraudulent” from the famous Bored Ape Yacht Club collection.
According to the class action lawsuit, the artists tricked their fans into buying the company’s collections. Yuga Labs to rapidly increase their values, which ended up causing new users to buy “at drastically inflated prices.”
Speculation in NFTs
The suit includes Madonna, Kevin Hart, Stephen Curry, Snoop Dogg, Serena Williams, Post Malone, The Weeknd, Fallons’ production company Electric Hot Dog, Inc. and Universal Television, among others.
All are said to have been recruited by talent manager Guy Oseary, who spearheaded a scheme with Yuga Labs to “discreetly” pay them for their endorsements through a cryptocurrency firm called Moonpay.
With the publicity carried out by celebrities, the demand for the collections increased NFT of Yuga Labs, but also from investments in Moonpay.
In an episode of The Tonight Show on November 11, 2021, Fallon promoted Moonpay and the BAYC collection by announcing that it has obtained its first NFT via the cryptocurrency firm, which bills itself as a white glove service designed to help celebrities purchase digital goods. active. He did not disclose that he had a financial stake in Moonpay.
For their publicity, the artists received digital assets. Bieber, for example, received a BAYC worth about $1.3 million when it was issued for an allegedly fraudulent post on Instagram that claimed he bought it with his own money.
values fall
From the promotion to date, the volume of transactions of the collections NFT of Yuga Labs, the famous Bored Ape, fell 93%. Its purchase value has also fallen by 90%.
“In our opinion, these claims are opportunistic and parasitic,” a spokesman for the company said. Yuga Labs it’s a statement. “We strongly believe they are without merit and we look forward to proving it.”
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