Thread by @galacticgeckosg

↓ PSA

It is our view that Alpha Art, by providing royalties to holders of Piggies NFTs from the sale of other NFTs on their platform, such as Geckos, may be in violation of applicable securities laws. 1/12

As such, GGSG is not comfortable with the legal risk associated with being listed on Alpha Art as we are striving to ensure compliance with all applicable laws. This poses danger to GGSG and GGSG’s community. 2/12

NFT issuers or marketplaces claiming decentralization are not above any laws and any such projects found to be in violation of applicable securities laws may face enforcement action from the SEC - 3/12

the fact that Alpha Art is not based in the US or Canada is irrelevant to the question of whether SEC has jurisdiction over Alpha Art – if Alpha Art is providing services to persons in the U.S., it is likely that they are within the SEC’s purview. 4/12

We made numerous attempts to amicably resolve the issue with Alpha Art to no avail& were forced to ultimately send a formal demand notice. 5/12

Alpha Art used images of Geckos on their front page which was admitted by an Alpha Art representative that it was for marketing purposes without our permission. 6/12

GGSG is not comfortable with appearing to endorse a marketplace that may be engaging in violation of applicable laws and regulations. 7/12

GGSG owns the intellectual property rights with respect to the name and likeness of the Geckos and the associated art and provides a personal use and commercial use license to purchasers of Gecko NFTs as described on our terms and conditions. 8/12

Alpha Art was not provided GGSG’s consent to use GGSG’s name and likeness for commercial purposes – this may be harmful not only to GGSG, but purchasers of Gecko NFTs as well. 9/12

For the foregoing reasons, we requested that Alpha Art immediately remove all references to GGSG and de-list the Gecko NFTs in an effort to protect GGSG and the GGSG community from any legal ramifications or infringement of the rights provided to Gecko NFT holders. 10/12

At the crux of the issue is that Alpha Art advertised and purports to provide royalties to holders of Piggies based on the sale of other NFTs listed on Alpha Art. If Alpha Art ceases engaging in any such activities, GGSG is happy to re-evaluate the foregoing stance. 11/12

At the end of the day, we are striving to do what is best for the community and we do not believe willful ignorance of applicable laws is in the best interest of GGSG or the NFT community as a whole. 12/12