Seth Green Recovers Stolen Bored Ape NFT, Reportedly Paid $300k

By Spencer Perry

Earlier this year came a true mad-lib of a headline and a piece of news, comedian and producer Seth Green's Bored Ape NFT, which he was already developing an animated series around, had been stolen. The Emmy-winning creator of Robot Chicken revealed the news back in May but according to a new report from Buzzfeed News the Ape  "is home." Buzzfeed's report reveals that Green's Ape, Bored Ape #8398, has been returned to "a wallet associated with Green on Tuesday," with a transfer of 165 Ether, equivalent to $297,000, having been transferred from "an unnamed wallet" in exchange for it. (NOTE: Cryptocurrencies and NFTs have previously been linked to having a negative ecological impact among other controversies.)  

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer star seemingly had his NFT initially stolen through a phishing scam, as a result it appeared that Green no longer owned the rights to the ape and thus wouldn't be able to proceed with his planned animated TV series, which was previously reported to be called White Horse Tavern. "I bought that ape in July 2021, and have spent the last several months developing and exploiting the IP to make it into the star of this show," Green told Gary Vaynerchuk. "Then days before — his name is Fred by the way — days before he's set to make his world debut, he's literally kidnapped."  

According to reports, the person who owned the ape, a user known as both "Mr Cheese" and "DarkWing84," maintained that they purchased the NFT through legitimate means. Green confirmed to Buzzfeed News that his Ape "is home," with the outlet crunching the numbers that Green's transfer of funds was "nearly $100,000 more" than what the 

Over the past few years several celebrities and companies have attempted to jump onto the growing popularity of NFTs and cryptocurrencies, including both Marvel and DC Comics. With the expanded mainstream popularity of the digital tokens and currencies has come a backlash as critics have linked such technologies as having a disastrous effect on the planet and exacerbating climate problems, in addition to

In a detailed explainer on the subject, Gizmodo writes: "Without major overhauls to how tokens are created and sold, critics warn, it could ultimately help foist untold horrors on the biosphere and, by extension, humanity." You can read more about that here

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