
Since then, he has used public data to track the account that seized his NFTs and has seen the hacker sell other images on OpenSea, possibly from more thefts.

But the company never took action, he said. Shapira contacted OpenSea to report the hack. Shapira’s most valuable NFTs on OpenSea for a total of more than $100,000.

In February, Eli Shapira, a former tech executive, clicked on a link that he said gave a hacker access to the digital wallet where he stores his NFTs. (OpenSea’s lawyers called the complaint “a nonstarter” and said the company acted promptly to stop the other stolen NFTs from being sold.) This year, Robert Armijo, an investor in Nevada, sued OpenSea for failing to stop a hacker who had stolen several of his NFTs from selling one of them on the platform. OpenSea is also contending with competition from newer marketplaces built by established crypto companies like Coinbase.īecause OpenSea collects a fee from each NFT sale, some users argue that the company has a financial incentive not to clamp down on the sale of stolen goods. NFT sales have dropped about 90 percent since September, according to the industry data tracker NonFungible. OpenSea’s troubles are piling up just as demand for NFTs cools amid a crash in cryptocurrency prices. The company is facing at least four lawsuits from traders, and one of its former executives was indicted this month on charges related to insider trading involving NFTs. And plagiarized art has proliferated on the site, outraging artists who once viewed NFTs as a financial lifeline.

Chapman his ape has led to months of recriminations, forcing the start-up to make more than $6 million in payouts to NFT traders.Ĭustomers also complain that OpenSea is slow to block the sale of NFTs that were seized by hackers, who can turn a quick profit by flipping the stolen goods. The company has raised more than $400 million from investors, valuing it at a staggering $13.3 billion, and recruited executives from tech giants like Meta and Lyft.īut as OpenSea has grown, it has struggled to prevent theft and fraud. In the last 18 months, OpenSea has become the dominant NFT marketplace and one of the highest-profile crypto start-ups. Chapman is one of many crypto enthusiasts who have raised questions about OpenSea, an eBay-like site where people can browse millions of NFTs, buy the images and put their own up for sale.
