A former Bored Ape Yacht Club owner from Texas has filed a lawsuit exceeding $1M against leading NFT marketplace OpenSea. The lawsuit was triggered when his Bored Ape NFT was sold due to a platform exploit allowing hackers to purchase his Ape for a mere 0.01 ETH. The plaintiff alleges that OpenSea was aware of this bug yet continued operations to avoid interrupting their 2.5% transaction fee revenue.

The hacker managed to buy the Ape for a nominal amount and quickly resold it for 99 ETH, approximately $250K. Considering the rarity of the Ape NFT, the plaintiff argues that it is worth over $1M, thereby validating the lawsuit’s requested amount.

This lawsuit is the first of its kind against OpenSea or any other NFT marketplace, potentially setting a precedent for future cases. The plaintiff claims he has attempted to resolve this issue with OpenSea directly, but the platform has shown little willingness to engage.

This development comes amidst an ongoing dispute between OpenSea and Larva Labs over the ‘CryptoPunks V1‘ copycat project, adding more strain to OpenSea’s legal department. The outcome of this case could significantly impact the wider NFT marketplace, and we will continue to follow the story as it unfolds.