OpenSea 的 NFT 問題：監管藝術與證券之間的模糊界限

OpenSea 定期下架或停用不可替代代幣（NFT），它們的行為可能類似於金融工具。它的目標是「任何承諾回報、擁有代幣或可以以任何方式解釋為證券的東西」。

OpenSea, one of the largest global marketplaces for NFTs, has taken actions that suggest it has been aware for years that some NFT collections listed on its site are more than just art, according to three former employees of OpenSea, as well as company documents seen by DL News.

OpenSea 是全球最大的NFT 市場之一，據OpenSea 的三名前員工以及所看到的公司文件稱，OpenSea 已採取的行動表明，該公司多年來一直意識到其網站上列出的一些NFT 藏品不僅僅是藝術品。

Those actions include delisting or disabling non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, that may behave like financial instruments. It has targeted “anything which promised returns, had a token, or could be construed as a security in any way,” a person familiar with the practice told DL News.

這些行動包括下架或禁用不可替代代幣（NFT），它們的行為可能類似於金融工具。一位知情人士告訴 DL News，它的目標是「任何承諾回報、擁有代幣或可以以任何方式解釋為證券的東西」。

The company also issued a vocabulary guide directing employees to avoid using financial terms such as “broker,” “shares,” “trading” or “exchange,” in their communications, according to one company document.

根據一份公司文件，該公司還發布了一份詞彙指南，指導員工避免在溝通中使用「經紀人」、「股票」、「交易」或「交易所」等金融術語。

While crypto leaders may scoff at the idea that NFTs are securities and ridicule Gensler and the SEC, OpenSea’s longstanding efforts to weed out problematic collections complicates the narrative. Aware of potential problems, the company acted.

雖然加密貨幣領導者可能會嘲笑 NFT 是證券的觀點，並嘲笑 Gensler 和 SEC，但 OpenSea 長期以來為清除有問題的集合所做的努力使情況變得更加複雜。意識到潛在的問題，該公司採取了行動。

A spokesperson for OpenSea declined to comment on questions sent by DL News for this article.

OpenSea 的發言人拒絕就 DL News 就本文提出的問題發表評論。

OpenSea’s tangle with the SEC comes as the venture struggles to recapture the mojo that drove the NFT space to such giddy heights in 2021. OpenSea’s revenue multiplied more than 18 times between the second and third quarter that year, to $167 million, according to an internal document.

OpenSea's tangle with the SEC comes as the venture struggles to recapture the mojo that drove the NFT space to such giddy heights in 2021. OpenSea's revenue multiplied more than 18 times between the second and third quarter that year, to $167 million, according to an internal文件.

Now, as the popularity of Bored Ape Yacht Club and other NFTs wane, OpenSea’s monthly volume has plunged about 55% in the last 12 months, to $36 million, according to Dune Analytics.

現在，根據 Dune Analytics 的數據，隨著 Bored Ape Yacht Club 和其他 NFT 的受歡迎程度下降，OpenSea 的月交易量在過去 12 個月中下降了約 55%，至 3,600 萬美元。

Through it all, OpenSea has laboured to screen the many NFT collections that have been listed on its platform.

自始至終，OpenSea 一直在努力篩選其平台上列出的許多 NFT 系列。

In October 2021, OpenSea disabled trading of a collection called DAO Turtles after finding the pixelated images of the shelled amphibians violated its terms of service, according to social media posts by DAO Turtles.

根據 DAO Turtles 的社交媒體帖子，2021 年 10 月，OpenSea 發現帶殼兩棲動物的像素化圖像違反了其服務條款，禁止了名為 DAO Turtles 的收藏品的交易。

That meant visitors to OpenSea could still see the NFTs, but they couldn’t buy or sell them.

這意味著 OpenSea 的訪客仍然可以看到 NFT，但他們無法購買或出售它們。

OpenSea told DAO Turtles’ team that NFT collections could not use the platform to carry out financial services such as ”listing, or buying securities” and similar instruments, or fundraising, according to a screenshot of an email.

根據一封電子郵件的螢幕截圖，OpenSea 告訴 DAO Turtles 團隊，NFT 集合不能使用該平台進行「上市或購買證券」和類似工具或籌款等金融服務。

While OpenSea did not provide any details on precisely why DAO Turtles raised a red flag, the NFTs were more than images on a blockchain.

雖然 OpenSea 沒有提供任何細節說明 DAO Turtles 發出危險信號的確切原因，但 NFT 不僅僅是區塊鏈上的圖像。

Owners could collect royalties from future releases, and receive an associated cryptocurrency called Turtleshells, according to an archived version of the project’s website.

根據該專案網站的存檔版本，所有者可以從未來的版本中收取版稅，並獲得名為 Turtleshells 的相關加密貨幣。

Other collections OpenSea delisted or disabled on its site for violating the prohibition on financial assets include Steady Stack, and Yaypegs, said a former employee.

一位前員工表示，OpenSea 因違反金融資產禁令而在其網站上摘牌或禁用的其他集合包括 Steady Stack 和 Yaypegs。

The teams behind DAO Turtles and Yaypegs did not respond to requests for comment. A representative for Steady Stack could not confirm why the collection was delisted.

DAO Turtles 和 Yaypegs 背後的團隊沒有回應置評請求。 Steady Stack 的代表無法確認該系列被下架的原因。

From the get-go, OpenSea addressed the financial capabilities of NFTs in its terms of service.

OpenSea 從一開始就在其服務條款中解決了 NFT 的財務能力問題。

“WE ARE NOT A BROKER, FINANCIAL INSTITUTION, OR CREDITOR,” reads the earliest archived copy of its terms of service from August 2018, which was printed in all caps to hammer the point home.

“我們不是經紀人、金融機構或債權人”，其 2018 年 8 月的服務條款最早存檔副本如此寫道，該副本全部大寫，以強調這一點。

Two years later, in October 2020, OpenSea added clauses that prohibited users from “any financial activities subject to registration or licensing, including but not limited to creating, listing, or buying securities, commodities, options, real estate, or debt instruments.”

兩年後，即 2020 年 10 月，OpenSea 新增了條款，禁止使用者「進行任何需要註冊或許可的金融活動，包括但不限於創建、上市或購買證券、商品、選擇權、房地產或債務工具」。

The marketplace also barred any assets “that are redeemable for financial instruments or that give owners rights to participate in an ICO or any securities offering.”

該市場還禁止任何「可兌換為金融工具或賦予所有者參與 ICO 或任何證券發行權利的資產」。

ICO is an acronym for an initial coin offering, a token distribution practice the SEC targeted around 2018.

ICO 是 ICO 的縮寫，是 SEC 計劃在 2018 年左右進行的代幣發行實踐。

In 2022, the SEC began to send OpenSea information requests, The Verge reported in August. As part of that process, the company received a Wells notice, which is a notification the agency sends to the target of a potential enforcement action. Finzer said in August that OpenSea received the notice “recently.”

根據 The Verge 8 月報道，2022 年 SEC 開始發送 OpenSea 訊息請求。作為該過程的一部分，該公司收到了 Wells 通知，這是該機構向潛在執法行動目標發送的通知。 Finzer 在 8 月表示，OpenSea 「最近」收到了通知。

If the SEC sues OpenSea, it would have to show that certain NFT collections the company listed are unregistered securities, said Philip Moustakis, a New York-based securities lawyer at Seward & Kissel.

Seward & Kissel 駐紐約證券律師 Philip Moustakis 表示，如果 SEC 起訴 OpenSea，則必須證明該公司列出的某些 NFT 集合是未註冊的證券。

“Can you use an NFT to make a securities offering? Absolutely,” he told DL News.

「你可以使用 NFT 來發行證券嗎？當然，」他告訴DL新聞。

Moustakis added that it’s not about the technology, but rather the offering, or the initial sale of objects, which can be pieces of paper, computer code, or even citrus groves.

穆斯塔基斯補充說，這與技術無關，而是與產品或物品的初始銷售有關，這些物品可以是紙張、電腦代碼，甚至是柑橘園。

Generally, the SEC follows legal guidance that an asset is a security if purchasers have a “reasonable expectation of profit from others.”

一般來說，美國證券交易委員會遵循的法律指導是，如果購買者“對從他人那裡獲得利潤有合理的預期”，則資產就是證券。

On September 19, users sued OpenSea for allegedly offering NFTs that behaved like financial instruments.

9 月 19 日，用戶起訴 OpenSea 涉嫌提供行為類似於金融工具的 NFT。

“NFTs are treated like securities by OpenSea despite being unregistered with the SEC,” said the complaint, which is being managed by Adam Moskowitz,

該投訴稱：“儘管 NFT 未在 SEC 註冊，但 OpenSea 仍將其視為證券”，該投訴由 Adam Moskowitz 負責管理。