French National Pleads Guilty To NFT Fraud
French national Aurelien Michel has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a New York federal court. The Mutant Ape Planet NFTs were a knock-off of Yuga Labs’ Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) project.
Michel and his co-conspirators falsely marketed the NFTs to investors by promising rewards and benefits, creating artificial demand for the collection. They intentionally failed to deliver on these promises, diverting millions of dollars for their personal benefit. Michel faces a potential five-year prison sentence and has agreed to pay $1.4 million in restitution.
The Mutant Ape Planet collection initially comprised 6,797 NFTs minted on the Ethereum blockchain. However, by April 2022, the collection had significantly dropped, and by January 2023, the average price and total sales volume plummeted to near zero.
The Mutant Ape Yacht Club volume and price have been gradually picking up over the past three months, while the Crypto Punks NFT collection experienced a remarkable surge in trading volume, reaching an impressive $20.26 million in the same seven-day period.
(With inputs from Shikha Singh)
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