Bundesrichter lehnt Entlassungsantrag von Dapper Labs ab

• Dapper Labs hat 21 Tage Zeit, um auf das Urteil zu reagieren.
• Es wurde zunehmend darüber diskutiert, welche digitalen Assets als Wertpapiere gelten.

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Ein Bundesrichter regiert on Wednesday that Dapper Lab’s “NBA Top Shot Moments” qualify as securities as they meet the criteria under the United States security law. Judge Victor Marrero denied Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou’s request to dismiss a class action lawsuit claiming that the company’s NBA Top Shot NFTs are securities.

Die Klage, die vor anderthalb Jahren eingereicht wurde, behauptet, Gharegozlu und Dapper Labs hätten ihre NFT-Sammlung ohne vorherige Registrierung bei der US-Börsenaufsichtsbehörde SEC angeboten und damit gegen das Bundeswertpapiergesetz verstoßen.

By denying Dapper Labs’ dismissal motion, Judge Marrero authorized the case to proceed. According to the court documents, the judge reviewed the Howey Test to assess if the NFTs met the criteria for an investment contract covered by U.S. securities laws before reaching a decision.

“The Court finds that Plaintiffs’ allegations render each consideration under Howey facially plausible and survive Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the alleged violation of Sections 5 and 12 of the Securities Act,” the ruling read.

Judge Marreo ruled that Dapper Labs’ FLOW tokens, though not necessarily securities themselves, are “necessary to the totality of the scheme at issue.” The federal judge noted that “without FLOW tokens, no transactions on the Flow Blockchain can be validated.”

The ruling added that the “Proof-of-Stake’ mechanism employed by the Flow Blockchain requires FLOW to power it and incentivize miners to validate transactions. In that respect, FLOW’s utility creates value for Moments through the network’s consensus as to ownership and the price of each transaction.”

Judge Marreo, however, noted that “not all NFTs offered or sold by any company will constitute a security, and each scheme must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.” 

Explaining Dapper Labs’ peculiarity, the ruling said,

Es ist das besondere Schema, nach dem Dapper Labs Moments anbietet, das eine ausreichende Rechtsbeziehung zwischen Investoren und Promoter schafft, um einen Investitionsvertrag und damit eine Sicherheit unter Howey zu begründen.

Reacting to the ruling, a Dapper Labs spokesperson noted that Wednesday’s decision “only denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint.” The spokesperson claimed the ruling “did not conclude the plaintiffs were right, and it is not a final ruling on the merits of the case.”

Judge Marreo’s ruling is part of a larger discussion concerning whether different digital assets should be classified as securities. Earlier this month, the SEK gab bekannt, dass es eine Einigung über $30 Millionen mit der Kryptowährungsbörse Kraken über seine Staking-Dienste erzielt hatte. Die US-Regierung untersucht auch traditionelle Anlageberater der Wall Street, die Kunden die Verwahrung digitaler Vermögenswerte anbieten, ohne ordnungsgemäß lizenziert zu sein.

Dapper Labs hat 21 Tage Zeit, um auf das Urteil zu reagieren.

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