Nifty News: Yuga cuts non-royalty markets, South Korea to discuss NFTs with Gary Gensler
Yuga Labs says goodbye to markets without royalties
Nonfungible token (NFT) company Yuga Labs will take its collections out of NFT marketplaces that do not support royalties for all creators.
On Feb. 26, Yuga, the company behind the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) collections, announced on X (formerly Twitter) that some of their NFT collections will only be traded on marketplaces that “respect creator royalties.” They wrote:
“Royalties are the lifeline that keeps creators building fun, weird, and innovative activations in the space.”
While Yuga Labs is taking out support for non-royalty marketplaces, it will only apply to some of its NFT collections. This includes their collections with a royalty filter like Sewer Passes, HV-MTL, 10KTF, Otherside and more.
pic.twitter.com/Anszbskalb
— Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) February 26, 2024
Yuga Labs’ rescinding its support for non-royalty NFT marketplaces comes amid Magic Eden’s Ethereum-based marketplace launch. According to Yuga, Magic Eden’s contractual royalty enforcement brings the space back to a creator-led Web3.
South Korean officials to discuss NFTs with Gary Gensler
South Korea’s financial authorities are set to discuss with United States Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler whether to recognize NFTs as virtual assets.
On Feb. 26, local media outlet Edaily reported that South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) chairman, Lee Bok-hyun, will start discussions with Gensler in May. According to the report, there are currently no clear legal definitions for NFTs in the country.
In addition, NFTs were also excluded from the scope of virtual assets in South Korean laws set to go into effect in July. This was because the lawmakers deemed that the risk for the NFT markets is low, as they are mainly traded for collection purposes.
Because of these reasons, the talks will focus on NFTs and whether to include and classify NFTs as virtual assets. However, the FSS also clarified that the meeting’s schedule and the agenda have not yet been finalized.
Related: Nifty News: Samurai NFTs take flight with Japan Airlines, Solana slows down
U.S. Air Force analyst charged with NFT rug pull
A United States Air Force cyber analyst has been accused of pulling the rug on investors using two Solana-based NFT collections.
On Feb. 21, 24-year-old Air Force analyst Devin Alan Rhoden and 20-year-old Berman Jerry Nowlin Jr. were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The duo will face up to five years in federal prison if convicted.
The two minted three Solana-based NFT collections called Undead Apes, Undead Lady Apes and Undead Tombstone, convincing investors in the collection to send them at least $300,000 in crypto in exchange for the NFTs.
The charges allege that the duo made “material misrepresentations” to attract investors to their projects, including purporting to be in collaboration with a well-known NFT project. However, when the project denied any ties with Rhoden and Nowlin Jr.’s collections, the prices of the assets took a dive. By that time, the duo had already converted the crypto assets they received from investors into dollars.
Magazine: ‘Painful to think about’: NFT Creator Nate Alex on selling 70 CryptoPunks too early
