David Vance

Million

Spot

<div class="watcher-guru">  
 <p>A few hours ago, the SEC charged Stoner Cats 2 LLC for conducting an “unregistered offering of crypto asset <a rel="dofollow" title="sec" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/sec.html">sec</a>urities” in the form of disguised NFTs that raised approximately $8 million from investors to fund the animated web series Stoner Cats. Gurbir Grewal, the Director of the Division of Enforcement at the SEC, asserted that regardless of whether offerings involved beavers, chinchillas, or animal-based NFTs, the federal laws consider only the economic reality of the offering and not the labels put on them. Despite the SEC charges, CoinGecko pointed out that the floor price of the NFTs was hovering around 0.069 ETH, up by 267%.</p> 
 <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter">
  <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> 
   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">NFT Price Action: Floor price of Mila Kunis' Stoner Cats NFT project is up 267% to 0.069 ETH today, despite the SEC charging its creators over the sale of unregistered <a rel="dofollow" title="sec" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/sec.html">sec</a>urities.<br><br>🐱: https://t.co/9swfFdTjSE pic.twitter.com/gelWkfTDiF</p>— CoinGecko (@coingecko) September 14, 2023
   </blockquote> 
  </div>
 </figure> 
 <p><strong>Also Read: U.S. Lags Behind India, Vietnam in Crypto Adoption</strong></p> 
 <div class="quads-location quads-ad33739 " id="quads-ad33739" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"> 
  <div class="publift-ad add">
   <div data-fuse="22560828227"></div>
  </div> 
 </div> 
 <p>Right after the SEC imposed charges, the creator of the animated series&nbsp;Stoner Cats agreed to pay $1 million to settle the charges that it offered NFTs that were unregistered <a rel="dofollow" title="sec" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/sec.html">sec</a>urities. The series featured actors Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, along with Chris Rock and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. To watch Stoner Cats, viewers had to purchase the show’s original NFT artwork. The SEC alleged that the company illegally raised funds by selling more than 10,000 NFTs at about $800 each within 35 minutes on July 27, 2021. Despite settling with the agency, the entity didn’t admit or deny any wrongdoing.</p> 
 <p>The $1 million fine paid by Stoner Cats will be used to create a “Fair Fund” to compensate “injured investors” who bought Stoner Cats NFTs, the SEC said. Furthermore, as a condition of today’s settlement, Stoner Cats also agreed to destroy all NFTs in its possession. This, in effect, could jeopardize the fate and functionality of the NFT animated series.</p> 
 <figure class="wp-block-image size-full">
  <img decoding="async" width="1000" height="667" src="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2023/09/14/81077b2f4ce8b7504d87b3ca52bf9fdf.webp" alt class="wp-image-111889" srcset="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2023/09/14/81077b2f4ce8b7504d87b3ca52bf9fdf.webp 1000w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2023/09/14/81077b2f4ce8b7504d87b3ca52bf9fdf.webp 300w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2023/09/14/81077b2f4ce8b7504d87b3ca52bf9fdf.webp 768w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2023/09/14/81077b2f4ce8b7504d87b3ca52bf9fdf.webp 380w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2023/09/14/81077b2f4ce8b7504d87b3ca52bf9fdf.webp 550w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2023/09/14/81077b2f4ce8b7504d87b3ca52bf9fdf.webp 800w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px">
  <figcaption class="wp-element-caption">
   Source: Bernard Marr
  </figcaption>
 </figure> 
 <p><strong>Also Read: Nasdaq Getting Ready to List Spot Bitcoin ETF</strong></p> 
 <h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sec-is-playing-dress-up-crypto-community">SEC is Playing “Dress Up”: Crypto Community </h3> 
 <div class="quads-location quads-ad15192 " id="quads-ad15192" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"> 
  <div id="primisContainer" class="add"></div> 
 </div> 
 <p>Towards the end of August, the SEC alleged that&nbsp;Impact Theory&nbsp;raised around $30 million from investors via its NFT offerings that were not registered with the agency. The firm agreed to pay more than $6 million to settle the allegations. Drawing parallels between the two cases, Preston Byrne, Partner at Brown Rudnick, posted,</p> 
 <p><strong>“Impact Theory was an obvious example of an entrepreneur trying to dress up an investment contract as an NFT. Stoner Cats is an example of the SEC trying to dress up a collectible as an investment contract.”</strong> </p> 
 <p>In fact, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer also went on to question the binding nature of the latest Stoner Cats settlement. He labeled the resolution “binding on no one” and likely just a “PR stunt.” In fact, he contended that the SEC often loses its cases when they are seriously challenged in court. Ripple CTO David Schwartz, on the other hand, said,</p> 
 <div class="quads-location quads-ad33742 " id="quads-ad33742" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"> 
  <div class="publift-ad add">
   <div data-fuse="22560828233"></div>
  </div> 
 </div> 
 <p>“<strong>Settle for single-digit millions or pay double digit millions to get a pyrrhic victory in three years. This should not be seen as a win for anyone.</strong>“</p> 
 <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter">
  <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> 
   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Settle for single digit millions or pay double digit millions to get a pyrrhic victory in three years. This should not be seen as a win for anyone. https://t.co/4Muf2s8yp8</p>— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) September 14, 2023
   </blockquote> 
  </div>
 </figure> 
 <p><strong>Also Read: TON Up 15%: Telegram Integrates Crypto Wallet for 800 Million Users</strong></p> 
</div> 
<div class="cs-entry__tags">
 <ul>
  <li>Nfts</li>
  <li>sec</li>
  <li>stoner cats</li>
 </ul>
</div> 
<p>Source: <a rel="dofollow" target="_blank" href="https://thebittimes.com/nfts-stoner-cats-price-up-267-despite-sec-charges-tbt62687.html">https://thebittimes.com/nfts-stoner-cats-price-up-267-despite-sec-charges-tbt62687.html</a></p>

NFTs: Stoner Cats Price Up 267% Despite SEC Charges

Table of Contents

TheBitTimes

Other articles published on Sep 14, 2023

Why the SEC Might Be Fighting a Losing Battle Against Ripple

JP Morgan is working on its own blockchain payment system, bullish news for ETH, SHIB and BTCS

Is Bitcoin SV Going to Zero? BSV Price Falls 2.5% as Web3 Utility Coin LPX Sails Past $1.6 Millio...

Galaxy Digital Supervises FTX Asset Liquidation Amid Market Concerns

🎱 Golden Ball - GLB is the next generation BSC token aiming to improve and bring the online betti...

Cardano and Bitcoin Spark: Pioneering the Next Crypto Wave

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!