Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis are in big trouble with the law, maybe. The celebrity married couple is embroiled in a new scandal revolving around the online NFT cartoon series Stoner Cats. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the business with failing to officially register its NFTs.
Investopedia explains that Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a new and exciting type of digital asset that is taking the world by storm. NFTs are unique digital tokens that are stored on a blockchain, and they can be used to represent ownership of a wide range of items, including digital art, music, videos, and even in-game items.
Unlike cryptocurrencies, which are fungible (meaning that any two units of the same cryptocurrency are interchangeable), NFTs are non-fungible, meaning that each NFT is unique and cannot be replaced. This makes NFTs ideal for representing ownership of digital assets, as each NFT can be linked to a specific asset and its unique history. So it makes sense that people like Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis would used them to raise the funding for Stoner Cats.
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NFTs are becoming increasingly popular, and they are being used for a wide range of purposes. For example, artists are using NFTs to sell their digital artwork directly to collectors, and musicians are using NFTs to sell their music and exclusive content to fans. Gamers are also using NFTs to buy and sell in-game items, and some companies are even using NFTs to represent ownership of real-world assets, such as real estate and collectibles.
And if you have not yet heard anything about NFTs, you are probably better off. Think of cryptos, but even riskier.
Stoner Cats is an adult animated series about a group of house cats who become sentient after accidentally smoking their owner’s weed. The show was created by Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, through her Orchard Farm Productions, and it features a star-studded voice cast that includes Chris Rock, Jane Fonda, and Vitalik Buterin.
Stoner Cats was released in 2021, and it quickly became a cult classic among fans of animation and cannabis. The show is known for its humor, its unique animation style, and its willingness to tackle taboo subjects.
In addition to the animated series, Stoner Cats also released a collection of NFTs in 2021. The NFTs were used to fund the production of the show, and they also gave holders access to exclusive content and perks.
The Stoner Cats NFT collection was a success, raising over $8 million in sales. The NFTs have also become valuable collectibles, with some selling for thousands of dollars.
The Stoner Cats NFT collection is also notable for the fact that it was one of the first NFT projects to be created by a major Hollywood studio. This shows that the entertainment industry is beginning to recognize the potential of NFTs.
But now the SEC says that people involved with it like Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher. The $8 million was raised to fund the series. The SEC stated, however, that Stoner Cats 2 LLC (SC2) violated the Securities Act of 1933 by “offering and selling these crypto asset securities to the public in an unregistered offering that was not exempt from registration.”
“Regardless of whether your offering involves beavers, chinchillas or animal-based NFTs, under the federal securities laws, it’s the economic reality of the offering — not the labels you put on it or the underlying objects — that guides the determination of what’s an investment contract and therefore a security,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement about the whole Stoner Cats issue. “Here, the SEC’s order finds that Stoner Cats marketed its knowledge of crypto projects, touted that the price of their NFTs could increase and took other steps that led investors to believe they would profit from selling the NFTs in the secondary market. It’s therefore hardly surprising, as the order finds, that Stoner Cats sold its entire supply of NFTs in just 35 minutes, generating proceeds of over $8 million, most of which were then resold — not held as collectibles — in the secondary market within months.”
“Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, SC2 agreed to a cease-and-desist order and to pay a civil penalty of $1 million,” the company stated. “The order establishes a Fair Fund to return monies that injured investors paid to purchase the NFTs. SC2 also agreed to destroy all NFTs in its possession or control and publish notice of the order on its website and social media channels.”
So, hopefully Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher and whoever else owns a piece of the company have made enough money to cover the fine and all the other expenses related to Stoner Cats.