Communications of the ACM
Thefts, Fraud and Lawsuits at the World's Biggest NFT Marketplace
Chris Chapman said a flaw in OpenSea’s system allowed a trader to buy his prized NFT for less than a third of the asking price.
Credit: Arturo Stanig/The New York Times
Chris Chapman used to own one of the most valuable commodities in the crypto world: a unique digital image of a spiky-haired ape dressed in a spacesuit.
Mr. Chapman bought the nonfungible token last year, as a widely hyped series of digital collectibles called the Bored Ape Yacht Club became a phenomenon. In December, he listed his Bored Ape for sale on OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, setting the price at about $1 million. Two months later, as he got ready to take his daughters to the zoo, OpenSea sent him a notification: The ape had been sold for roughly $300,000.
A crypto scammer exploited a flaw in OpenSea's system to buy the ape for significantly less than its worth, said Mr. Chapman, who runs a construction business in Texas. Last month, OpenSea offered him about $30,000 in compensation, he said, which he turned down in hopes of negotiating a larger payout.
The company has made "a lot of stupid, dumb mistakes," Mr. Chapman, 35, said. "They don't really know what they're doing."
From The New York Times
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