Stolen NFTs to require A Police Report.

OpenSea starts new stolen NFT regulations.

NFT scams are everywhere lately as more projects come to light and creatives are hoping to find new ways to get their art seen by the masses. Web3 platforms are currently working on identifying and managing assets that appear to be stolen. OpenSea has been dealing with most of this responsibility as a lot of scams and stolen art have appeared on the marketplace. 

There was a policy to block flagged assets which has caused a bit of controversy within its community. Purchasers of the stolen NFTs have faced punishment as well even when they had no idea the art they purchased was stolen. The policy continued to get backlash from the community.

In a response to this outcry OpenSea announced changes to their policy on twitter:

The announcement stated that new changes will take place in the way reported NFT assets are handled. Previously OpenSea would block stolen assets from being bought, sold, or transferred as an investigation took place. The art would be put on indefinite hold. 

OpenSea states that a Police Report will now be mandatory and filed within seven days of the incident in order to start processing any requests. The marketplace has used this method for “escalated disputes” but will make this a requirement from now on for all NFTs that are reported as stolen. If a police report is not filed in time then the items that are on hold will be released. This is done to prevent false reports. The NFT marketplace also stated that rescinding a claim will be easier as well. This new requirement will only be necessary for new claims as old claims will still use the rules at the time of report. 

The NFT market has continued to grow and because of this so many new scams and thefts have occurred as well. Many unsuspecting victims that innocently wish to join in on a thriving NFT economy find themselves at the mercy of dishonorable vendors. Users are tricked into false transactions using their crypto wallets only to have their assets stolen or funds emptied out.

Many scams have become very common within the social media space , especially Twitter, with multiple reputable creators and projects being hacked and used to fool people into purchasing stolen or fake assets. This happened to accounts such as Beeple, Nouns, and even BAYC. This has been an issue for a while and people within NFT Twitter have been debating whether creators should reimburse users or not. 

OpenSea is based in the United States and thus must follow the law when it comes to situations such as these. Stolen goods cannot be knowingly sold on the marketplace. The asset is locked down after being marked stolen and victims unaware of the fact that the asset was spurious are unable to perform any type of transaction with the asset. Some victims have been inadvertently penalized  and OpenSea is well aware that this is an issue that needs to be addressed.

opensea, stolen nfts

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