NFTs – Fintechnically Speaking

February 28, 2023 by Duane Morris

Osbourne v Persons Unknown & Ors [2023]: High Court Judgment Handed Down in Highly Anticipated Case

A highly anticipated judgment has been passed down from the High Court, allowing for service via Non-Fungible Token (NFT) on a defendant as the sole means of service. Osbourne v Persons Unknown & Ors [2023] EWHC 340 (KB) concerns Ms. Lavinia Osbourne, who sought to restrict the movement of two NFTs, which were misappropriated from her cryptoasset wallet in 2022. In the judgment, Mr Healy-Pratt (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) expanded on the comments made by Lavender J in his January 2023 judgment relating to the same case.

To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris’ Charlyn Cruz and Sam Laycock, please visit the Duane Morris London Blog.

January 10, 2022 by Duane Morris

Can Blockchain and NFTs Revolutionize the Fashion Industry?

Following the worldwide disruption in retail due to COVID-19, sales of luxury goods are expected to grow as much as 25% in 2022. Much of this growth has been driven by e-commerce, with online sales totalling 23% of all luxury sales in 2020. Meanwhile, consumer sustainability demands have driven growth in luxury resale or rental markets, now worth an estimated $36 billion, while brands have expanded their reach into the brave new digital territory of the metaverse – the overlapping digital spaces in which we increasingly work, play, and consume.

Yet luxury’s digital embrace has been hampered by a concomitant rise in counterfeit goods in the physical and digital worlds. Is blockchain the solution?

To read the full text of this article co-authored by Duane Morris attorneys Cindy Yang and Kelly Bonner, please visit the Multilaw website.

November 10, 2021 by Duane Morris

NFTs and Fraud – a new frontier?

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs – digital assets which are not traded on exchanges, but instead are tokens which represent the ownership of a digital file (for example, a photo or digital art)) have exploded onto the digital asset ‘scene’ over the last 18 months or so. They are generally (but not always) built on the Ethereum blockchain. NFTs are bought and sold using cryptocurrency, but not traded on exchanges. Instead, they are purchased through specialist third party auction sites or sold/transferred privately.

The speed of mass NFT adoption has created significant opportunity (in the wake of the increase in value of NFTs, and also allowing content creators to monetise their services by tokenising art and music) but also exposed potential for the system to be exploited.

To read the full text of this blog post by Duane Morris attorney Chris Recker, please visit the Duane Morris London Blog.