Steve Aoki Sued Over Worthless NFTs

If you spent even five minutes looking at how fast NFT prices were crashing back in 2021, you would have seen this coming. But here we are. Steve Aoki, the guy who made throwing cake at people a full-time job, is now dealing with something way less fun: a massive lawsuit.

Based on recent reports, investors are suing him. They claim Aoki’s A0K1VERSE project wasn’t a “cool club for fans,” but was actually just a “pump and dump” scheme. That’s a fancy way of saying they think he hyped it up just to make money and then left everyone else with nothing. NFTs were sketchy from the start.

A0K1VERSE and Broken Promises

For those who weren’t paying attention—which was basically everyone—the A0K1VERSE was sold as a “digital world” where buying a “Passport” (an NFT) gave you cool stuff like hoodies, tickets to private parties, and a chance to hang out with Aoki.

Actually, the people suing him say the reality was a total letdown. According to court papers, the value of these NFTs has dropped to almost zero. Some investors claim they spent over $200,000 on these tokens and “credits” that are now about as useful as a broken phone.

The lawsuit says Aoki and his team didn’t do what they promised in their “roadmap” (their plan for the project). Specifically, the plaintiffs claim that the “perks”—like special merch and being first in line for new projects—never really happened. They feel like they paid a lot of money for a digital picture that does nothing. Also, the suit claims Aoki used his huge social media following to trick people into thinking the tokens were worth a lot of money, only to stop caring about the project once he got the cash.

Actually, the biggest part of the legal fight is about whether these NFTs were “securities” like a stock. That’s a legal word for a specific type of investment. If they are, Aoki had to follow very strict rules that he allegedly ignored. Without those rules, the people who bought the NFTs had no protection when the prices crashed.

A Lesson for the Rave Scene

While the EDM world is usually all about “PLUR” (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect), the court system is all about “Evidence.” This lawsuit isn’t just about Steve Aoki; it’s a sign that the whole industry is finally being held responsible. Celebrities who used their fame to sell risky digital stuff are finally being asked to prove they weren’t just tricking their fans.

Actually, you shouldn’t need a judge to tell you that a digital drawing of an alien isn’t a great way to save for the future. But now that the A0K1VERSE is falling apart, fans are getting a very expensive lesson on the difference between “hype” and “real value.”

EDMTunes will keep an eye on this case as it goes to court. But honestly, we should have seen this coming the second we started caring more about JPEGs than the actual music.