Billionaire’s son purchased rare NFTs on inside information -

After rumours of possible insider trading in recent Meebits, NFT purchases circulated a few weeks ago, there are now claims that Alexandre Arnault, the son of the world’s third-richest man, was also involved in using inside information to purchase some of the rarest HypeBears NFT in a blind auction.

Arnault placed bids on five of the 10 most rare HypeBear NFTs, winning three of them.

Did Arnault get inside information?

HypeBears are a new 10,000-piece digital greatest collection with one-of-a-kind outfits and gear. Buyers could bid during the pre-reveal period, which meant no one knew what each bear looked like.

However, unlike the other bidders, Alexandre Arnault, a Tiffany & Co executive, appeared to have a notion of what the bears looked like.

This was because Arnault was looking for specific HypeBears and was willing to pay a premium for them. He increased his bids by 32% for HypeBear #9021 and 58 percent for HypeBear #7777. He repeated the process with seven more bears.

When the HypeBears’ identities were disclosed, Arnault bid on five of the ten most valuable HypeBear NFTs, winning three of them, including #7777 and #9021.

While it’s possible that this was a coincidence, the chances of him buying the rarest tokens are slim unless he knew what he was doing. According to Convex Labs, the chances are 1 in 440,000, which makes it extremely rare.

Although there is no definitive proof of insider trading, there is evidence to support it. When HypeBear was announced on February 10, the project’s developer, Ernest Siow, tweeted a screenshot of him and Arnault in a video conversation and captioned it. “Wonderful catch-up, brother!” Let’s have a look at our bears now.”

During the video call, there are concerns that Siow may have given him a heads-up. However, because there is no regulatory examination of the situation, this is impossible to determine.

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NFTs are not considered securities

Because NFTs are not considered securities, no insider trading restrictions apply. In some ways, this has made it easier for negative actors to engage in suspicious actions. Aside from that, the absence of regulatory certainty has provided an opportunity for these bad actors to feast.

NFT Ethics called out a few investors on Twitter earlier this month, claiming they acquired Meebits NFT based on non-public information.

A few days before Yuga Labs revealed that it had purchased CryptoPunks and Meebits IP rights, the majority of them purchased numerous Meebits.

Arnault’s spokeswoman has denied knowing anything about the bears’ characteristics. However, after selling some of his rare NFTs, he was able to make a profit of over $20,000.

Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing