A lawsuit involving celebrity NFT endorsements names Yuga Labs and Moonpay

Yuga Labs and MoonPay are among the nearly 40 individuals and businesses named in a class-action lawsuit brought by a California law firm that claims they were involved in “a vast scheme” of secret celebrity endorsements.

Yuga Labs and Hollywood talent agent Guy Oseary allegedly came up with a scheme to use their “vast network of A-list musicians, athletes, and celebrity clients and associates to misleadingly promote and sell the Yuga Financial Products,” including its Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs, according to Scott + Scott, which was recently looking for participants for the class action.

MoonPay was allegedly used as a “front operation” to pay promoters without disclosing this to investors, according to the firm.

According to the complaint, this allowed the defendants to “artificially increase the interest in and price of the BAYC NFTs during the Relevant Period, causing investors to purchase these losing investments at drastically inflated prices.”

The lawsuit also makes claims about celebrity connections that have previously drawn criticism. Both Yuga Labs and MoonPay declined to comment.

Although MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright has previously acknowledged business ties with Concierge service users, factual information has been hard to come by.

Earlier this week, a federal judge dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the creators of EthereumMax and celebrity promoters like Kim Kardashian, ruling that customers should have known better even though he expressed concern about,

“celebrities' ability to readily persuade millions of undiscerning followers to buy snake oil with unprecedented ease and reach.”