Yuga Labs, the company behind the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection, has accused artist Ryder Ripps of deliberately destroying NFT keys to circumvent a court order. The company had previously accused Ripps of copying one of their designs for his own NFT project, leading to a legal dispute.
The destroyed keys reportedly relate to NFT tokens Ripps had been ordered by the court to preserve as they may be subject to ongoing litigation. Destroying these keys effectively makes the NFTs unrecoverable, and may be seen as an attempt to obstruct the legal process.
These allegations, if proven true, could be liable to penalties for contempt of court. The case is ongoing, and the resolution will potentially set important legal precedents for disputes over intellectual property rights in the NFT space.
