OpenSea has received a Wells notice from the SEC threatening to sue us because they believe NFTs on our platform are securities.

We're shocked the SEC would make such a sweeping move against creators and artists. But we're ready to stand up and fight.

This is a move into uncharted territory. By targeting NFTs, the SEC would stifle innovation on an even broader scale: hundreds of thousands of online artists and creatives are at risk, and many do not have the resources to defend themselves.

In addition to standing our own ground, we're pledging $5M to help cover legal fees for NFT creators and devs that receive a Wells notice. Every creator, big or small, should be able to innovate without fear.

I hope the SEC will come to its senses sooner rather than later, and that they'll listen with an open mind.

Until then, we'll stand up and fight for our industry.

Onwards 🌊⛵️

Egregious attempt from the Gensler SEC to classify anything with a secondary market as securities.

Where does it stop — Pokémon cards? Beanie Babies? Taylor Swift tickets?

Maybe my logic doesn’t work for me this morning but how are finite material objects with a secondary market comparable to infinite virtual coins with secondary markets?

IANAL, but the definition of a security is well-defined.

However, trying to classify an entire category / go after a general purpose platform is a pretty big expansion of scope.

Are there NFT projects that fit the definition below? Probably. Are all NFTs securities? No.

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Under that definition, I don’t know how they haven’t tried to go after beanie babies and Pokémon cards, etc, the same way.

Not saying I think they should, but with all the other out of pocket shit they seem to like to do, I’m very surprised they haven’t.