News Report
October 12, 2022

SEC investigates BAYC creators, Yuga Labs, over the sale of unregistered tokens

In Brief

The U.S. Security and Exchange Commission investigates Yuga Labs

ApeCoin goes down by 8.18%

Someone eliminated the profile picture of the Otherside Twitter account

SEC investigates BAYC creators, Yuga Labs, over the sale of unregistered tokens

The creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection, Yuga labs, are facing SEC problems. The company has been accused of reportedly violating federal law by selling unregistered digital assets. 

The U.S. Security and Exchange Commission is currently examining the case. The SEC is yet not sure if certain non-fungible tokens are comparable to stocks and thus should follow the same rules of disclosure. Basically, it all comes down to whether SEC decides that tokens offered by Yuga Labs are securities. According to Bloomberg, the regulator might have been investigating the NFT market and whether certain NFTs are securities since March this year.

Additionally, the SEC is also investigating the distribution of BAYC’s native token, $APE. Since the news went live on October 11, ApeCoin went down by 8.18% and is now worth $4.70. 

Following the announcement, on October 12, the official Twitter account of Yuga Labs’ Otherside project was reportedly hacked. However, the page does not feature any giveaway or minting links, as it usually happens when a major NFT project gets exploited. The company, or whoever got into their account, eliminated the profile photo and the background image. 

It’s also worth noting that Illa Da Producer, who became the Community and Partnership Lead at Yuga Labs in July, has just announced his resignation from the project. The two announcements, coming out simultaneously, might lead us to think that Yuga Labs has something to hide. 

The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 10,000 PFP-styled NFTs. It is one of the most well-known blue-chip collections, which has made a total sales volume of 672K ETH ($873.6 million at the time of writing). The current floor price of a BAYC NFT is 74.2 ETH (approximately $96,460).

The SEC investigating Yuga Labs is not the first controversy regarding the project. Despite the popularity of Bored Apes, several well-known individuals dubbed the ideology and the idea behind it. Creative director Ryder Ripps, who is very active in the NFT space, has researched BAYC’s imagery and Nazi references behind it. Following, in June this year, YouTube blogger Philion shared a video that shows these disturbing similarities. 

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About The Author

Valeria is a reporter for Metaverse Post. She focuses on fundraises, AI, metaverse, digital fashion, NFTs, and everything web3-related. Valeria has a Master’s degree in Public Communications and is getting her second Major in International Business Management. She dedicates her free time to photography and fashion styling. At the age of 13, Valeria created her first fashion-focused blog, which developed her passion for journalism and style. She is based in northern Italy and often works remotely from different European cities. You can contact her at [email protected]

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Valeria Goncharenko
Valeria Goncharenko

Valeria is a reporter for Metaverse Post. She focuses on fundraises, AI, metaverse, digital fashion, NFTs, and everything web3-related. Valeria has a Master’s degree in Public Communications and is getting her second Major in International Business Management. She dedicates her free time to photography and fashion styling. At the age of 13, Valeria created her first fashion-focused blog, which developed her passion for journalism and style. She is based in northern Italy and often works remotely from different European cities. You can contact her at [email protected]

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