The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Yuga Labs. The investigation is over whether its Bored Ape Yacht Club Ethereum NFTs and the ApeCoin token are unregistered securities. This info was according to Bloomberg.
The Report On Bored Apes
The report, which cites an unnamed source, claims that the agency is exploring a few things. One of them is whether the crypto startup broke federal law by issuing NFTs that act like stocks. The other is based on exploring the distribution of the Ethereum-based ApeCoin token that launched earlier this year.
Yuga Labs has not yet been accused of any wrongdoing and the investigation may not necessarily lead to charges.
“It’s well-known that policymakers and regulators have sought to learn more about the novel world of Web3. We hope to partner with the rest of the industry and regulators to define and shape the burgeoning ecosystem.” The above statement was by Yuga Labs. “As a leader in the space, Yuga is committed to fully cooperating with any inquiries along the way.”
The Bored Ape Yacht Club is one of the most successful NFT projects to date. It has a main collection of 10,000 NFTs initially selling to the public at $190 worth of Ethereum apiece. That sale yielded Yuga roughly $1.9 million. Follow-up and spin-off projects, the Mutant Ape-Yacht-Club and the Otherside metaverse game, then raked in $96 million and $319 million, respectively.
How Much Does Bored Ape Really generate?
BAYC has also generated nearly $2.5 billion worth of secondary trading volume, per data from CryptoSlam. Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Otherside have added another $3.35 billion worth of secondary trading volume to that tally. Yuga Labs earns a 2.5% royalty fee on each of those sales.
Bored Ape NFT owners are entitled to various benefits, including access to a private community and live events. In addition, also the ability to use their owned illustration to create and sell derivative artwork and projects. Many of the NFTs have sold for seven-figure sums.
Furthermore, the project has attracted a number of celebrity owners as it has gained popularity.
Holders Benefits
Furthermore, Bored Ape NFT holders have been granted various past benefits. These includes free Bored Ape Kennel Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, and Otherside NFTs. In addition to these, an allotment of ApeCoin when that token launched in March.
Officially, ApeCoin was not created or launched by Yuga Labs. The token was issued by the Ape Foundation, which is fronted by a board that includes prominent Web3 builders. Builders like Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and FTX Ventures head Amy Wu.
That approach was due to regulatory concerns, although Bloomberg reports that the SEC is still investigating the launch and distribution of the token.
Yuga Labs and its founders have benefited greatly from the launch of ApeCoin. The token has a current price of about $4.75 per token and a market cap of just over $1.5 billion.
ApeCoin’s price tumbled shortly after the report was published. Consequently, it’s down about 9% over the last 24 hours per data from CoinGecko.
The SEC has increased its scrutiny of the crypto and NFT markets under the leadership of chair Gary Gensler. Gensier was named to the post in April 2021.
Gensler has shared a view that nearly any other crypto token besides Bitcoin could be a security. To this end, he has pursued a number of recent actions – including naming nine tokens listed on Coinbase as securities.