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Stoner Cats NFTs or non-fungible tokens have been booted out from several NFT Marketplaces shortly after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the creators of the animated series for offenses related to selling unregistered securities.
According to Decrypt, Rarible and OpenSea NFT Marketplaces confirmed they imposed a ban on the Stoner Cat NFT tradings. On the other hand, Blur, a zero-fee non-fungible token marketplace that was launched in 2022, shows it has no active listing of the said NFTs created based on the adult animated program that features Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Chris Rock, and more. The said digital token was apparently taken down after the issue with the SEC surfaced.
The Ethereum-based Stoner Cats NFTs that are linked to the animated series starring high-profile celebrities were reportedly sold in 2021. Since then, they have been listed for trading in various marketplaces for digital assets. The items were only taken down recently after the show’s creators were charged last week.
In a press release, SEC’s Director of Division of Enforcement, Gurbir S. Grewal, explained the offenses committed for the Stoner Cats NFTs.
“Regardless of whether your offering involves beavers, chinchillas or animal-based NFTs, under the federal securities laws, it is the economic reality of the offering – not the labels you put on it or the underlying objects that guide the determination of what’s an investment contract and therefore a security,” he said. “The SEC’s order finds that Stoner Cats marketed its knowledge of crypto projects, touted that the price of their NFTs could increase and took other steps that led investors to believe they would profit from selling the NFTs in the secondary market.”
Meanwhile, the creators already settled with the SEC over the alleged violations for selling unregistered securities. They agreed to pay the penalty worth $1 million as a civil fine. The SEC said the money will be used to set up a Fair Fund to return money to investors.
Photo by: Stoner Cats/YouTube
