By Stephone Coward
- Stephen Curry, Serena Williams and Adidas are being sued for their involvement with Yuga Labs’ assets
- Bored Ape Yacht Club surged to a value of $346.1M in January 2022 and its ApeCoin lost almost 84% by the end of 2022
NFT investors in Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) who thought they were buying their way into the next cultural digital craze may be trying to cash out with buyers’ remorse. Named in the lawsuit are the defendants, Stephen Curry, Serena Willams, Adidas (ADDY +2.04%), and other members of Yuga Labs’ BAYC, which surged to a value of $346.1 million last January. The plaintiffs claim these celebrities made “false and misleading statements concerning Yuga’s growth prospects, financial ownership, and financial benefits” and “lured in unsuspecting investors.”
Why This Matters: Harnessing star power has been a tried and true way to be able to shine a light on things to increase their popularity. In many cases, it is a smart business strategy with no downside. However, Adam Titcher and Adonis Real did not find value in it. They are the investors suing a number of celebrities who used their star power to shine a light on the Yuga Labs’ assets that they purchased to amass an NFT collection of 10,000 simian avatars.
Digital Assets, such as crypto and non-fungible tokens (NFT) had become increasingly popular over the years. NFT sales went up 55% from 2020 to 2021 (from $250 million to $389 million). ApeCoin, one of Yuga Labs’ assets that Ticher and Real invested in and are suing over, lost almost 84% of its value since the all-time high it reached in April 2022.
Situational Awareness: Leading up to the November 2022 midterm elections, talks of an impending recession grew louder as efforts to combat rising inflation had mixed results. Confidence in digital assets began to waiver as well, many who played the long game when investing saw the evaporation of their gains. The plaintiffs in this case both figuratively and literally bought into the hype and the intentional brand exclusivity of celebrities promoting the NFT collection and their Bored Ape avatars of themselves only to be left with buyers remorse.
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