User Sues OpenSea for $1M
User Thimothy McKimmy filed a federal court case against OpenSea, stating that even though the firm was aware of security vulnerabilities, it still did not inform users or put necessary safety measures in a timely manner.
How Did Thimothy McKimmy Lose His BAYC NFT?
According to the lawsuit filed by McKimmy, BAYC is made of 10,000 unique NFTs. The current entry price for the lowest valued Bored Ape is 98 ETH ($307,564). Ownership of the BAYC NFT helps in granting entry to the Yacht Club that offers members-only services.
One of the advantages of being a member of the Club is to have the chance to converse with other members such as Stephen Curry, Shaquille O’Neal, Serena Williams, Kevin Hart, Justin Beiber, Eminem, and many more.
McKimmy, the plaintiff in the suit, claims to be the original owner of Bored Ape #3475, and his Bored Ape NFT was stolen, advertised, sold to another user on OpenSea on February 7. The suit claims that “instead of shutting down its platform to address and rectify these security issues, Defendant continued to operate.”
The defendant in question here is OpenSea and McKimmy alleges that OpenSea jeopardized the security of their user’s NFT. Furthermore, the suit claims,
“Plaintiff did not list his Bored Ape for sale on the marketplace. Defendant’s security vulnerability allowed an outside party to illegally enter through OpenSea’s code and access Plaintiff’s NFT wallet, in order to list and sell Plaintiff’s Bored Ape at a literal fraction of the value (at .01 ETH).”
Due to the lack of security, OpenSea’s vulnerabilities allowed hackers to enter through its code and force the listings of an NFT. The suit states that after the forced entry, the NFT was immediately purchased and resold at 99 ETH.
McKimmy claims in his suit that he sought to settle the issue with Open Sea multiple times, but the company disregarded him and also stated that they were 'actively investigating' the matter. Besides that, the plaintiff also tried to resolve the issue with the current owner of McKimmy’s Bored Ape. However, the current owner refused to return it.
Plaintiff's Bored Ape has enormous monetary worth; this is undeniable. For example, Justin Bieber paid 500 ETH ($1.3 million) for Bored Ape #3001 at the time of the transaction. Bieber's Bored Ape has a rare score of only 53.66 and a rarity rating of #9777. Plaintiff's Bored Ape, on the other hand, has a rarity score of 138.52 and a rank of #1392. It is in the top 14% in rarity, and it is substantially rarer than Bieber's.
McKimmy filed the lawsuit to safeguard the rights of NFT owners who utilize OpenSea's platform and to compel it to implement adequate security measures and remedy is known vulnerabilities in its interface. He also seeks monetary damages of more than a million dollars.