Stolen Digital Assets!
Opening: general chat about digital assets, how they can move, how they can be stolen, people forgetting bitcoin wallet passwords, etc.
This used to be about domain name
Revision Legal past experience in litigating stolen domain name issues
ACPA/CFAA/UDRP
Damages
Procedure/Jurisdiction
Continuing the NFT train – stolen NFT is the newest rage
Recent lawsuit – Armijo v OpenSea and Yuga Labs (BAYC) – District of NV
FACTS
Nov 2021, Jan 2022, P bought 3 BAYC/MAYC for total of about 80 ETH (about 300k)
Feb 2022, he wants to trade the MAYC for some “Cool Cats” NFTs
He goes on a discord channel and finds a willing trade partner
P alleges a third party trading service was needed to complete the trade, P wanted to use NFT Trader.io, other side agrees.
“A few minutes” after agreeing to the trade, the other side says he uploaded the Cool Cats to the website, and he just needs P to upload the MAYCs and complete the transaction. Other side sends P a link to the NFT Trader website.
P thought it was the real website, it wasn’t
He uploads, and clicks to approve the transfer, nothing happens, he clicks multiple times more, then he notices his ETH in his wallet is lower than expected, he checks the wallet, and BAYC and MAYC are gone.
Turns out the website was fake, every time he clicked to complete the transaction, he was allowing access to his wallet
He tries to tell Open Sea in order to prevent the re-sale, does the same on discord, reaches out to BAYC on discord, they tell him sorry and will try to help with Open Sea
4 hours after they are stolen, they are all re-sold on open sea
It appears they were then later sold on LooksRare
New owners will not give them back unless they are paid what they lost
Complaint goes on to detail many other similar situations, complains of lack of gov regulations
CAUSES OF ACTION
Alleges OpenSeas grew too fast, not sufficient security protocols, same w LooksRare, says BAYC doesn’t do anything to prevent this
Negligence as to OS and LR – not maintaining the database for stolen items, not sufficient customer service
Points to media interviews about OS admitting they have an “obligation” as to security
Negligence as to BAYC – not monitoring the community for stolen items
Negligent supervision and training and negligent hiring as to OS and LR
Discuss SIM SWAP cases
What is a sim swap
How do they happen
Causes of action
Arbitration
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