📣 OpenSea Wins Battle with Dissatisfied Clients
posted 11 Nov 2024
Two OpenSea users, Anthony Shnayderman and Itai Bronshtein, have withdrawn their lawsuit accusing the company of securities law violations. This decision came after the court permitted OpenSea's legal team to pursue arbitration.
Previously, OpenSea asserted that it would pursue mandatory arbitration in accordance with its platform’s terms of use. According to Adam Moskowitz, the attorney for the plaintiffs from The Moskowitz Law Firm, the court ruling left no option but to withdraw the lawsuit.
Arbitration presents specific conditions: the selection of the arbitrator, restricted evidence-gathering, the exclusion of public discussion of the case, and the inability to file class-action suits. Such a process effectively provides a more favorable setting for the company.
We still think OpenSea could help, especially in supervising and monitoring NFTs traded on their own exchange, for which they directly profit. We will certainly continue to investigate how we can best help those victims of failed NFTs and other crypto productsMoskowitz noted.
Shnayderman and Bronshtein initially filed the lawsuit in September 2024, arguing that the NFTs they purchased from various collections, including Bored Ape Yacht Club, constituted unregistered securities. They also cited a recent Wells notice regarding an investigation that OpenSea had received shortly before.
At the time, OpenSea immediately rejected the allegations, calling them unfounded and emphasizing that actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should not be considered a basis for similar claims by users. So far, OpenSea has not commented on the lawsuit’s withdrawal.