Last month, Seth Green lost several pieces of his NFT collection, including Bored Ape #8398, which had been integral in developing his upcoming show. However, the “kidnapped” Bored Ape was recently returned to the actor.
Bored Ape #8398 or Fred Simian was previously in the hands of pseudonymous NFT collector “Mr. Cheese.”
On Tuesday, blockchain transaction records showed Fred Simian transferred from Cheese’s NFT wallet to one of Green’s wallets. The actor confirmed to BuzzFeed that his NFT had been returned, saying, “Fred is home.”
The records showed that Seth Green transferred 165 Ether, which equals $297,000, to DarkWing84’s wallet, Mr. Cheese’s alias. The transaction suggests the actor repurchased his NFT for nearly $100,000 more than it was initially bought for, despite his threats to sue the collector if the NFT wasn’t returned to him.
Read also: Prime Ape Planet: An NFT project created by the best minds of the Artistic world!
Despite being returned, Fred Simian still has a “suspicious activity” label on OpenSea, remaining frozen to prevent it from being bought or sold on the marketplace. However, it can still be transacted on other services.
While nothing has been confirmed, if the transaction is exactly how it seems, the entire debacle will have reached its conclusion after more than a month of controversy.
The entire event started in early May when Seth Green’s NFT collection was looted after falling into a phishing scam. The event halted the development of his show White House Tavern, which featured characters from his collection, particularly Fred Simian, who would have played a prominent role in the show.
“I bought that ape in July 2021 and have spent the last several months developing and exploiting the IP to make it into the star of this show,” said Green last month. “Then days before – his name is Fred, by the way – days before he’s set to make his world debut, he’s literally kidnapped.”
Throughout May, Seth Green maintained he never lost the IP rights to Fred despite the NFT getting stolen. However, without any legal precedent with the new technology, he was left in a legal gray area.
With Fred Simian back home, the actor and producer can now return to work on the show without legal headaches.
Read also: Titano Finance Thrives Under Pressure and Recovers All Stolen Funds from Hackers
Opinions expressed by NY Weekly contributors are their own.