John Reed Stark highlighted the theft of non-fungible tokens from popular collections such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), NFT World of Women, VeeFriends, and Art Blocks. The losses suffered by investors amount to millions of dollars. Although the hacker has returned the BAYC and MAYC tokens in exchange for 120 ether, Stark believes that rewarding such actions only encourages further illegal activity.
“Who would have ever thought that JPEGs featuring silly-looking cartoon monkeys could be so easily intercepted? This is truly a disaster of monumental proportions. We might as well call the main characters from action series Jack Reacher and Jack Bauer. Maybe comedian Jack Black can even make a movie about this destructive escapade,” sarcastically remarked the former official.
Stark contends that attacks like these are alarmingly common in the NFT ecosystem, and he goes as far as to say that the market is “completely rigged.” According to him, NFT market manipulation is increasingly pervasive and tacitly sanctioned. Consequently, he strongly advises against purchasing collectible tokens and asserts that NFTs are nothing more than scams.
The former SEC veteran previously stated that investing in bored monkeys wearing comical glasses and flamboyant hats is far from a trustworthy endeavor. Stark’s skepticism also extends to USDT, as the United States lacks a proper regulatory framework for companies involved in issuing stablecoins.