A Texas man is suing OpenSea over an exploit that saw high value NFTs, including his Bored Ape, sold for a fraction of their cost.
A Texas man who unwittingly sold his Bored Ape NFT for 0.01 ETH—the equivalent of around $26—is suing OpenSea, alleging the platform knew about a bug that allowed hackers to buy NFTs for far below market price.
In a complaint filed in Texas federal court, Timothy McKimmy claims he is the rightful owner of Bored Ape #3475—one of a set of 10,000 highly coveted primate NFTs known as the Bored Ape Yacht Club. He claims that he did not list his Bored Ape for sale and that the NFT was “stolen”—and that the “buyer” promptly resold it for 99 ETH ($250,000 at today’s prices).
According to McKimmy, the ape in question is in the top 14th percentile when it comes to rarity, and is significantly more rare than the Bored Ape NFT Justin Bieber recently purchased for $1.3 million. He is seeking “the return of the Bored Ape and/or damages over $1 million.”
McKimmy—whose LinkedIn profile lists him as the CEO of a Texas iron ore firm—claims that OpenSea knew about the bug, which was widely reported in the media, but refused to halt trading in the interest of profits.