Update (Jan. 5 6:00 AM UTC): This article has been updated to add comments from Pons Asinorum.
During the holiday season, the founders of two nonfungible token (NFT) collections announced that they would be giving away company equity to NFT holders.
On Dec. 25, Pons Asinorum, founder of the NFT collection “The Plague,” announced that holders of their NFTs will be allocated a percentage of company shares based on the number of unlisted NFTs they hold.
On Christmas morning The Plague NFT gave to me….
Equity (shares) in their company!
Yes, you read that right. Real shares, in our company.
Every Frog NFT holder as of 10 minutes ago will be allocated a percentage of shares based on the number of unlisted frogs they are… pic.twitter.com/zHVqeq4dyt
— Pons Asinorum (@Pons_ETH) December 25, 2023
While it might look like there may be legal and regulatory risks involved, the NFT founder claimed it was legal as the shares were not sold. The founder said that they consulted multiple lawyers over the legalities of the move and said that holders did not expect to receive shares when they bought their NFTs.
In a statement to Cointelegraph, Pons said he did this because he wanted to “give a gift to the community” that helped them build their brand. He also believes it’s legal and explained that it was completely unexpected. Pons said nobody, except his legal team, knew it would happen. Pons wrote:
“There was no expectation that they would get equity, and they did not have to do anything to receive the equity. It was a gift. No different than if I gifted shares to my friends and family.”
Days after the announcement, another founder of a popular NFT collection announced a similar move. On Jan. 1, Rektguy co-founder Ovie Faruq, also known as OSF in the NFT space, announced that their NFT holders would be gifted equity in their company, Rekt Brands Inc.
On 4th December 2023 we announced that a surprise snapshot of Rektguy holders was taken on 12AM EST on 26th October 2023.
We are delighted to reveal that holders at…
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