Judge Declares Bored Apes NOT Securities – What a Surprise! 🙄💸

by

Well, well, well… it looks like the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is off the hook, and no, it’s not because they’ve suddenly become good at yacht parties. A federal judge in California just crushed a class-action lawsuit against Yuga Labs, the genius (or maybe just lucky) creators behind those iconic JPEGs of apes. The court made it clear-BAYC NFTs and ApeCoin are *not* securities. Shocking, right? 🙄

The lawsuit, which started back in 2022, claimed that Yuga was tricking investors by selling NFTs that were essentially unregistered securities. But Judge Fernando Olguin wasn’t buying it. He ruled that the plaintiffs couldn’t prove that buying these digital monkeys (and related tokens) met the *Howey test*, the legal bar for classifying something as a security. So, sorry folks, no billion-dollar lawsuits here. 🙅‍♂️

Now, don’t start sending Yuga your angry letters just yet. The judge made it crystal clear that offering future profits in NFTs doesn’t magically turn them into a legit investment vehicle. If that were the case, we’d all be making millions from “NFTs of next week’s lottery numbers.” But I digress…

Oh, and about that “common enterprise” theory-nope, didn’t work either. The court pointed out that buyers were just paying a one-time fee for some NFTs and then flipping them on third-party platforms like OpenSea. Their fortunes were not tied to the success of Yuga Labs, so if your ape’s value plummeted, it wasn’t the company’s fault. No ‘get rich quick’ scheme here, my friends. 🍌

The lawsuit involved a lovely collection of Yuga’s digital wonders: BAYC NFTs, Mutant Apes, Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC), Otherdeed virtual land in the metaverse, Meebits NFTs, and, of course, ApeCoin. Yuga collected creator fees with each NFT resale-just to remind you, no one’s getting a cut from these ‘digital assets’ unless they sell to someone else. It’s all about that *community membership* vibe, people. 😎

What Does This Mean for the NFT World?

The ruling gives the NFT world some much-needed breathing room. Basically, if you’re selling NFTs for access, perks, or just as cultural flair (you know, like a fancy meme), they’re less likely to get slapped with a “security” label. So, fewer lawsuits and fewer actions from the SEC in the future-unless someone tries to sell an NFT that literally promises you’ll retire by next Tuesday. But that’s a whole other lawsuit. 🤔

Yuga Labs, who launched the apes in 2021, have always called their NFTs ‘membership-based collectibles’. So, it’s safe to say their lawyers probably had a victory dance ready on standby. 🎉

Even though they won this legal battle, it’s not all champagne and yachts. The NFT market isn’t what it used to be. According to CoinGecko, the floor price for a Bored Ape is now around 8.13 ETH (roughly $36,600), down from $369,900 in April 2022. So, while the judge said “no securities for you”, it doesn’t mean that the ape dreams are roaring back to life anytime soon. 🙃

But hey, at least now, NFT artists can stop pretending their digital monkeys will fund retirement plans, and maybe focus more on building communities or actually adding *value*-which, let’s face it, might be the real win here. 🙏

Read More

2025-10-04 13:25