30/08/2023 The SEC brings its first NFT enforcement action

Illustration of a museum frame with a crypto block in it falling off a wall and tipping over forward.

Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

U.S. regulators continue to hammercryptofirms with enforcement actions, the latest of which dragsNFTsinto the mix.

Driving the news: The Securities and Exchange Commission on Mondaysued Los Angeles-based podcasting firm Impact Theory for allegedly offering securities in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), raising more than $30 million through sales in late 2021.

Background:Impact Theory offered 20,000 NFTs at three levels of rarity ina 2021 offering. The tokens gave buyers "levels" of access to things the company would create, such as to discounts and events.

  • Of note: Impact Theory is not really an NFT company, rather it appears to be a bare-bones entertainment shop centered around entrepreneur Tom Bilyeu.

The intrigue: The SEC's action Monday comes in spite of the company's attempt to remedy the allegations, repurchasing the NFTs, calledFounder's Keys, in the months following the sales, and returning roughly $7.7 million worth of ETH.

What they're saying: Without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations, Impact agreed to destroy the NFTs in question and pay combined penalties of more than $6 million.

What others are saying: SEC commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyedadissentedin the enforcement action, explaining they disagreed, in part, with the application of theHowey analysis.

Arts

https://www.axios.com/2023/08/28/sec-nft-podcasting-impact-theory

Interesting NFTs
The Pixel
The Pixel is a single pixel statement. It is created to validate. The Pixel is a digitally native artwork visually represented by a single pixel (1x1). It is a token that signs the most basic unit of a digital image in a traditional global auction house. It is a tiny mark to carry digitally native art to a potential future history.
The River of Emeralds
Golden conditions at one of my favorite locations in the Rockies. The light, the colors, the textures; what more can you ask for? I just loved the way this river flowed into the sunset and the mountains in the background. It's rare you find a scene as perfect as this one. But when you do, you have to take advantage of it.
Ringers #621
There are an almost infinite number of ways to wrap a string around a set of pegs. On the surface it may seem like a simple concept but prepare to be surprised and delighted at the variety of combinations the algorithm can produce. Each output from 'Ringers' is derived from a unique transaction hash and generated in Javascript in the browser. Feature variations include peg count, sizing, layout, wrap orientation, and a few colorful flourishes for good measure. Additional project feature(s) => Background: Red, Size: Normal, Wrap orientation: Balanced, Wrap style: Loop, Peg layout: Recursive grid, Peg scaling: Uniform, Body: White, Peg style: Solid, Extra color: N/A, Peg count: 23
Gluttony - 2019
The greed, sadness and pain; Christmas, objectives, new year and wishes: make a wish
Unnamed Foal
Unnamed Foal