• The United States court recently ruled that certain emojis relating to rocket ships, stock charts, and money bags could be classified as investment advice.
• Former SEC branch chief Lisa Braganca has issued a warning against using certain emojis in promotional materials following the ruling.
• The ruling was contained in a lawsuit filed against Dapper Labs for allegedly violating securities laws by offering its NBA Top Shot Moments as investment opportunities through their marketing materials with carefully selected emojis.
Court Ruling on Emoji Usage
The U.S. court recently ruled that using emojis relating to rocket ships, stock charts, and money bags could be classified as investment advice. This ruling was contained in a lawsuit filed against Dapper Labs and its CEO Roham Gharegozlou for allegedly violating securities laws by offering its NBA Top Shot Moments as investments opportunities through their marketing materials with carefully selected emojis.
Warning From SEC Chief
Following this ruling, former SEC branch chief Lisa Braganca has warned the public against using certain types of emojis in promotional materials. In particular, she referred to a tweet from DapperLabs which used the rocket ship, stock market, and money bags emoji to show market performance – which according to the court filing could imply financial return on investment.
What Are NBA Top Shot Moments?
NBA Top Shot Moments are non-fungible tokens (NFT) that capture key highlights and video clips from NBA games. The plaintiffs accused Dapper Labs of promoting these moments as potential investments through their marketing material which included various emojis meant to suggest profitability or financial gain upon investing in the NFTs.
DapperLabs‘ Argument
Dapper Labs argued that their use of the emojis was not intended to promote sales but rather provide accuracy when discussing market data related to their products. Several members of the crypto community have also argued that given how subjective interpretation can be when it comes to online media such as tweets containing emojis; creating a strict rule on how they should be used could potentially violate freedom of speech rights granted under U.S law .
Conclusion
In conclusion, while it is clear that US courts will treat certain emoji usage as investment advice; it remains unclear whether this decision will set a precedent across all platforms or remain limited just this one case involving Dapper Labs‘ NBA Top Shots Moments NFTs.