Yuga Labs Escalates Legal Battle Against Crypto Influencer Jeremy Cahen by Filing a Turnover Order

Yuga Labs, creator of the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, has escalated its legal battle against crypto influencer Jeremy Cahen

Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, is escalating its legal battle against crypto influencer Jeremy Cahen, also known online as Pauly0x.

The company has filed a turnover order in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, aiming to seize cryptocurrency assets worth nearly $400,000.

The assets in question include Bitcoin, Ethereum, and PEPE coin, distributed across four digital wallets. As of October last year, these funds were valued at around $400,000, according to court documents.

This legal action arises from a lawsuit Yuga Labs filed in July 2022 against Cahen and artist Ryder Ripps for allegedly infringing on its trademark with the Ryder Ripps Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection.

Ripps launched his copycat NFT project in May 2022, claiming it was a “parody” and protest, alleging that the original Bored Ape NFTs contained hidden Nazi and racist imagery.

The court disagreed with Ripps’ defense and ruled in favor of Yuga Labs in October 2023. Initially, the court awarded the company over $1.5 million in damages, which later increased to nearly $9 million by February 2024, including $7 million in attorneys’ fees and post-judgment interest.

The final judgment became enforceable by March 3, 2024. As Cahen did not post a bond or obtain a stay of enforcement, Yuga Labs subsequently began efforts to recover assets post-judgment.

As part of these efforts, Yuga Labs has subpoenaed Cahen’s accountant and served levies on various financial institutions. U.S. Marshals delivered these levies to banks and crypto platforms, including Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, Robinhood, Coinbase, Binance, and Gemini.

“Yuga Labs has taken affirmative steps in California to attempt to locate and execute upon Cahen’s assets, essentially every month since the Court issued its Final Judgment,” the company said in its recent filing.

However, Cahen allegedly moved cryptocurrency to avoid a levy served to Gemini.

According to Yuga Labs, Cahen transferred $396,946 in cryptocurrency the day after the levy was issued, leaving Gemini unable to freeze his accounts.

This timing suggests an effort to evade asset seizure, and Gemini provided transaction records in response to a subpoena, showing that Cahen moved his crypto into two new wallets.

Yuga Labs accused Cahen of making “a mockery of this Court’s Final Judgement by refusing to pay any portion of the judgment or comply with any post-judgment discovery.”

Cahen argues that he is not required to comply with discovery requests while his appeal is pending, although he does not have a formal stay that would support this position.

Beyond their NFT dispute, Cahen is also wanted in Puerto Rico for aggravated assault, as confirmed by authorities in February. He was included in the top 10 most wanted list in San Juan, the island’s capital.

Local news outlet Metro Puerto Rico reports that police consider these fugitives, including Cahen, to be armed and highly dangerous, with an active arrest warrant and a $75,000 bond.

Cahen has built a major online presence, particularly on Instagram and X, where he was known as “the most censored man on X” following the suspension of his account last year.

His current project is a decentralized exchange called Pond0X, which has faced criticism and been labeled a scam by some. Prior to this, Cahen was involved with projects like Pork Coin, which also drew criticism for allegedly defrauding investors.

The court has yet to rule on Yuga Labs’ turnover motion. Decrypt has reached out to Cahen for comment via Instagram.