New York Supreme Court: Approves Court Notice Served Via NFT - LCX AG V John Does 1-2

LCX a FinTech cryptocurrency exchange company in Liechtenstein was hacked for almost $8 million in cryptoassets. The Defendant in question (who is remaining anonymous), is a hacker involved in the heist of hot wallets.

Holland & Knight (LCX representatives), minted the court paperwork into a Non-Fungible Token (NFT), which they refer to as a 'service token'. The method used to serve the Defendant via NFT had the approval and the support of the New York Supreme Court. The Defendant's wallet address was uncovered via "algorithmic forensic analysis". The token was minted on the Ethereum blockchain and then sent to the Defendants wallet address. 

The Defendant  was served by LCX's representatives with a temporary restraining order that was issued on chain using an ERC-721 NFT. Copies of the order and legal paperwork were linked on the token, as well as a mechanism to track the visitor upon being clicked. 

What does the future hold for NFT's in legal proceedings?

The recent approval of NFT use in legal proceedings, could suggest that this will soon become the norm. Experts are of the view that there are more innovative ways to use NFT's in legal proceedings, on the other hand, others believe that NFT's are currently ungovernable. It will be interesting to see whether the Courts of England and Wales, will take the same approach, when considering applications for service by alternative means.

Like all NFT's, the token is now a part of the blockchain - Click here to view.

Subscribe to more insights from our experts at Hassans Subscribe now!