OpenSea Faces $1M Lawsuit Over Allegedly ‘Stolen’ Bored Ape NFT

A man from Texas, who accidentally sold his Bored Ape non-fungible token for just 0.01 ETH (US$26), is now suing OpenSea, claiming the platform was privy to a bug that allowed hackers to buy digital assets for below market value.

The lawsuit alleges Timothy McKimmy is the right owner of Bored Ape #3475, part of one of the world’s most valuable NFT collections featuring primates.

He said that he didn’t list the asset for sale, but it was “stolen” and then resold by the buyer for 99 ETH (US$250,000). 

Furthermore, McKimmy’s NFT was in the top 14th percentile of rarity, making it more coveted, and hence more expensive, than other Bored Apes.

As such, according to Decrypt, he hopes to seek “the return of the Bored Ape… and/or damages over US$1 million.”

“Instead of shutting down its platform to address and rectify these security issues, Defendant (OpenSea) continued to operate,” alleged the filing.

“Defendant risked the security of its users’ NFTs and digital vaults to continue collecting 2.5% of every transaction uninterrupted,” it added.

Engadget reported that thus far, OpenSea users have lost US$1.8 million in virtual assets to this “inactive listening” exploit.

While the company has approached certain victims to settle their claims, it was offering payments lower than the value of their “stolen” NFTs.

The firm has yet to issue a statement on the matter, though it told McKimmy it was “actively investigating” the incident in question.

[via Decrypt and Engadget, cover image via Bored Ape Yacht Club]