- The court previously ordered Cahen and artist Ryder Ripps to pay approximately $9 million in damages and legal fees to Yuga Labs.
- Court records show Cahen transferred crypto assets shortly after a levy was issued, potentially to avoid asset seizure.
Yuga Labs, creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, has filed a turnover order in a California federal court seeking to seize approximately $400,000 in cryptocurrency from influencer Jeremy Cahen, known online as Pauly0x. The assets sought include Bitcoin, Ethereum, and PEPE coin distributed across four digital wallets, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The legal action follows a previous judgment against Cahen and artist Ryder Ripps, who were found to have infringed on Yuga Labs’ trademark through their copycat NFT collection. The court sided with Yuga Labs in October 2023, initially awarding $1.5 million in damages before increasing the total to nearly $9 million in February 2024, including $7 million in attorneys’ fees.
Asset Recovery Efforts Intensify
Since the final judgment became enforceable in March 2024, Yuga Labs has pursued multiple avenues to recover assets, including subpoenas to Cahen’s accountant and levies delivered by U.S. Marshals to various financial institutions. These include Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, Robinhood, Coinbase, Binance, and Gemini.
In their filing, Yuga Labs stated: “Yuga Labs has taken affirmative steps under California law, essentially every month since the Court issued its Final Judgment to locate and execute upon Cahen’s assets. Still, Cahen has made a mockery of this Court’s Final Judgement by refusing to pay any portion of the judgment or comply with any post-judgment discovery.”
Court records reveal that Cahen moved $396,946 in cryptocurrency just one day after a levy was served to Gemini, suggesting a calculated effort to avoid asset seizure. The crypto exchange subsequently provided transaction records showing Cahen transferred the assets to two newly created wallets.
Background and Current Status
The legal dispute began in July 2022 when Yuga Labs sued Cahen and Ripps over their “RR/BAYC” collection, which Ripps had launched as an alleged form of “parody” while claiming that the original Bored Ape NFTs contained hidden Nazi and racist imagery.
Cahen maintains he isn’t required to comply with discovery requests while his appeal is pending, despite not having secured a formal stay of enforcement. Beyond this legal battle, Puerto Rican authorities confirmed in February that Cahen is wanted for aggravated assault and was placed on San Juan’s ten most wanted list.
Cahen’s current project, a decentralized exchange called Pond0X, has been called a scam by critics. The court has not yet ruled on Yuga Labs’ turnover motion, and Cahen has been approached for comment via Instagram.
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