For the first time in U.S. history, the architect of a so-called NFT “rug pull” scheme has been convicted of a federal crime—and could soon end up behind bars. 

Aurelien Michel, the 25-year old founder of the ill-fated Mutant Ape Planet NFT collection, pled guilty Tuesday at a federal courthouse in Brooklyn to wire fraud charges. He was accused of conspiring to commit wire fraud in the process of defrauding Mutant Ape NFT holders of almost $3 million.

Michel now faces up to five years in federal prison, and has agreed to pay $1.4 million in forfeiture, according to the Department of Justice. 

When Michel was arrested at New York’s JFK Airport in January, his NFT project became the third ever to be accused by federal authorities of executing a rug pull—a scheme in which an NFT project’s creators sell NFTs on false promises of community benefits, utility, and financial perks, only to abandon the project and make away with holders’ funds. 

According to federal prosecutors, Michel—a French citizen who resided, until his arrest, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—explicitly told Mutant Ape Planet holders that he had, in fact, rug pulled them. 

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Author: Sander Lutz

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