--- title: "Bored Apes Creators Facing Class Action Lawsuit" description: "A firm is organizing a class-action lawsuit against Yuga Labs, accusing them of inflating the worth of digital assets BAYC NFTs and native token ApeCoin." date: "2022-07-26" modified: "2022-07-26" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/bored-apes-class-action" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" tags: - "bayc" - "lawsuit" - "nfts" - "the digest" --- # Bored Apes Creators Facing Class Action Lawsuit ![A firm is organizing a class-action lawsuit against Yuga Labs, accusing them of inflating the worth of digital assets BAYC NFTs and native token ApeCoin.]() *\Image: Bored Ape Yacht Club\* ## BAYCused Yuga Labs — the company behind the high-value, [celeb-beloved]() NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) — may soon find itself on the [other end of a serious lawsuit](). *Decrypt* [reports that]() a New York law firm is organizing a class-action lawsuit against the cryptosphere leader, accusing it of falsely fluffing the worth of both BAYC NFTs and the company's crypto token, [ApeCoin](), by promoting them as growth assets with guaranteed returns, [despite major value losses](). "Once it was revealed that the touted growth was entirely dependent on continued promotion (as opposed to actual utility or underlying technology), retail investors were left with tokens that had lost over 87 percent from the inflated price high," [reads the firm's call to arms](). Importantly, the firm is arguing that these assets are, in fact, securities. The SEC has yet to label NFTs as such, though it has been [rattling its sabers]() — meaning that this new case is only one threat to the crypto industry that could force new precedents. ## Gorilla Warfare Regulating digital assets has [surfaced as a major talking point]() in the wake of the [crypto crash](). Some experts, however, don't really think that the SEC is ready or willing to deal with what rule-making may entail. "I see very, very, very little likelihood that the SEC is going to want to step in there and... characterize \[BAYC\] as a security," Brian Fyre, a University of Kentucky law professor, told *Decrypt*. "I think they're going to resist that tooth and nail, because that would open up a huge can of worms for them and force them to regulate all manner of other things that they don't want to be regulating." Regulating NFTs would likely mean that the body would need to regulate the art market as a whole, and as *Decrypt* points out, the SEC has never been keen on doing so. It might be more likely that in the case at hand, the commission names ApeCoin as a security — but avoids doing the same for digital artwork. Still, even that outcome is up in the air. And when you consider how many everyday Americans [have been hurt]() by [these markets](), it's worth wondering what's stopping them. "I don't really get the sense the SEC knows what it wants to do yet," Fyre added. "And in fact, in some ways, I fear that they don't know what's going on." **READ MORE:** [*Yuga Labs Threatened With Possible Class-Action Lawsuit*]() \[*Decrypt*\] **More on Yuga Labs' legal woes:** [*Yuga Labs Files Furious Lawsuit Against Guy Minting Copies of Bored Apes*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()