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OpenSea Suspends Sale Of Bored Ape NFT As A Result Of Legal Case In Singapore

Nonfungible tokens have now gone mainstream. However, in a world-first, one Singaporean court has frozen the sale of a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT that is currently caught up in the middle of a dispute where it was used as collateral for a loan deal that went sour.

OpenSea: NFT tug of war

In that context, OpenSea decided to disable the sale of the BAYC NFT after the past owner got an injunction in court stopping its sale.

Singaporean Law Company Withers KhattarWong announced that it had managed to acquire a global proprietary injunction on behalf of an NFT owner to freeze its sale and ownership transfer. That action was the first of its kind, and as a bonus, the court’s ruling officially designated nonfungible tokens the status of assets in Singapore.

This specific NFT is caught up in a dispute where the former owner alleges that he was illegally swindled in a loan deal where the NFT was put as collateral. The claimant is an NFT investor who owns several BAYC NFTs and he used one of them, BAYC No. 2162 as collateral to borrow some Ethereum on NFTfi, which is a lending marketplace that accepts nonfungible tokens as collateral.

The investor said in his court filing that the NFT is unique because “it is the only one wearing a beanie and has a jovial expression.”

On NFTfi, the investor agreed with a pseudonymous actor that is known as Chefpierre in March and a second one to refinance in April. Chefpierre pledged to hold the NFT in escrow until the loan was entirely repaid and agreed to an option for refinancing.

Nevertheless, when the investor did not manage to repay the loan within the agreed time, Chefpierre closed out the loan and took possession of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT. That was despite the option for refinancing which the investor asked to explore.

OpenSea Freezes Trading Of One BAYC NFT

OpenSea, the biggest NFT trading platform worldwide has officially frozen the sale of the NFT. In a statement sent to one outlet, a spokesperson for the platform stated that this was in line with its policy meant to stamp out fraud and crime from the platform.

“While we don’t offer details about enforcement actions on individual collections, I can share that our platform policies and Terms of Service explicitly prohibit the use of OpenSea to buy, sell or transfer stolen items, fraudulently obtained items, items taken without authorization, and/or any other illegally obtained items or launder money.”

For now, the floor price for Bored Ape Yacht Club nonfungible tokens which refers to the lowest price that one can get the NFT for, stands at 96.24 ETH, which translates to $191,000. Market and analytical data show that BAYC #2162 is now owned by Chefpierre, who owns 276 other NFTs, but comes with a disclaimer that states:

“Reported for suspicious activity.”

John Wanguba

Excited by blockchain, NFTs, crypto, metaverse, and every other related technology. Always delivers the latest and most trend news, descriptions, opinions, analysis, and features.

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