- An NFT trader on Blur made a profit of roughly $1.5 million after tricking a bot that was copying his trades
- The trader tricked the bot into buying his Azuki NFTs whose price was inflated by 10x
- The bot’s owner is now threatening to take legal action claiming the trader stole their money
An NFT trader on Blur has made a profit of roughly $1.5 million after tricking a bot that was copying his trades into buying his Azuki NFTs whose price was inflated by 10x. The bot’s owner is now threatening to take legal action claiming that the trader stole their money. The incident has divided the crypto community with some thinking that the bot’s owner has a viable legal claim while others hold that arguing such a case in court can be difficult.
From $5 to $50 per NFT
The trader, identified as Hanwe Chang, pulled off the trick by accumulating 12 Azuki NFTs with an “Off White A” background into a wallet and expressed interest in buying the collection by placing a bid.
Context on how @HanweChang executed a plan to perfection and made 800e by selling “Off White A – Background color” azuki at 50e each and azuki elementals at 15e each.
This is an epic case of PvP in the current NFT trading market ⚔️
Hanwe has been coasting at the top spot of… pic.twitter.com/M8Ujm8CquJ
— A-Raving-Ape.eth 🍌 (@a_raving_ape) August 5, 2023
The bid was however inflated with each collectible priced at $50 instead of roughly $5. The unsuspecting bot fell for the trick and scooped up all the NFTs netting Chang over $1 million with the remainder coming from another set of collectibles from the recently launched but controversial Azuki Elementals collection.
The bot’s owner, only identified as Elizab.eth, has taken to Twitter to offer the trader a 10% bounty “of any funds stolen” in exchange for the remaining 90%, eliciting mixed reactions from the community.
We would like to discuss a bounty with you. We are offering a 10% bounty of any funds stolen from our bot, which are yours to keep if you return the remaining 90%.
— elizab.ethᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠ (@ThinkingETH) August 5, 2023
A Clear Offer and Acceptance
While some argued that Elizab.eth has a strong legal case since Chang’s actions amount to an illegal market activity called bid spoofing, others said that the trader isn’t guilty since “there [was] a clear offer and acceptance.”
There’s a clear offer and acceptance. No foul play.
Your recourse in this matter is limited, as your automated system executed precisely as intended.
— Degen Law Academy | Web 3.0 Legal Research (@DegenLawAcademy) August 5, 2023
The NFT marketplace has previously found itself trending for the wrong reasons including claims of massive wash trading and advising creators to block rival NFT exchange OpenSea for full royalties.
With Chang holding celebrating the $1.5 million payout, it’s yet to be seen whether Elizab.eth’s bounty and legal threats will be effective in recovering the funds.
