OpenSea has halted trading of NFTs from DAO Turtles

Non-exchangeable token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea has suspended trading of pixel turtles from DAO Turtles, allegedly due to a rule violation.

Representatives of DAO Turtles sent a blocking request to OpenSea support. In response, they were cited for violating the rules on "carrying out financial activities subject to registration or licensing, including the listing or purchase of securities, commodities, options, real estate or debt instruments".

Other possible reasons for the blocking include "engaging in fundraising, including but not limited to the creation, listing or purchase of assets to be exchanged for financial instruments, granting rights to participate in ICOs or securities offerings".

Turtles' MAO said it did not violate OpenSea's rules. They cited the Axie Infinity project with a trading volume of around $100 million as their argument. Representatives are now awaiting a response from the platform.

Since its release on October 4, a collection of 10,000 NFT DAO Turtles has reached 570 ETH (about $2 million at the exchange rate at the time of writing).

In September, OpenSea fired an employee found guilty of insider trading. The press release does not explicitly mention the name. The cryptocurrency community suspected product director Nate Chastain of shenanigans.

OpenSea CEO David Finzer later claimed that the employee's actions were misclassified. According to the head of the platform, they did not fall under the SEC's insider trading ruling.

Recall that in August, the trading volume of non-interchangeable tokens on OpenSea exceeded $3 billion. In the same month, the marketplace said it was understaffed.

In September, an OpenSea error led to the destruction of 42 NFTs worth $100,000.