Federale rechter wijst verzoek tot ontslag van Dapper Labs af

• Dapper Labs heeft 21 dagen de tijd om op de uitspraak te reageren.
• Er is een groeiend gesprek gaande over wat digitale activa als effecten kwalificeren.

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Een federale rechter heerste 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.

De rechtszaak, die anderhalf jaar geleden werd aangespannen, beweert dat Gharegozlu en Dapper Labs hun NFT-collectie hebben aangeboden zonder zich eerst te registreren bij de Amerikaanse Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), waarmee ze de federale effectenwetgeving schenden.

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,

Het is het specifieke schema waarmee Dapper Labs Moments aanbiedt dat de voldoende juridische relatie tussen investeerders en promotor creëert om een investeringscontract, en dit een zekerheid, onder Howey te sluiten.

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 SEC kondigde aan dat het een schikking van $30 miljoen had bereikt met cryptocurrency-uitwisseling Kraken over zijn staking-services. De Amerikaanse overheid onderzoekt ook traditionele Wall Street-beleggingsadviseurs die klanten bewaring geven van digitale activa zonder de juiste vergunning te hebben.

Dapper Labs heeft 21 dagen de tijd om op de uitspraak te reageren.

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