In brief

Yuga Labs has filed a turnover order in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, in an effort to seize crypto assets held by influencer Jeremy Cahen, also known online as Pauly0x.

The assets, spread across four wallets, include Bitcoin, Ethereum, and PEPE coin, and total nearly $400,000 as of last October.

Yuga Labs sued Cahen and artist Ryder Ripps in July 2022 for infringing on Yuga Labs’ trademark through the sale of the Ryder Ripps Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection. 

Ripps had launched the copycat project in May 2022 as a form of “parody” and protest, claiming Bored Ape NFTs featured hidden Nazi and racist imagery. 

The court sided with Yuga, awarding it over $1.5 million in damages in October 2023. The following February, this increased to nearly $9 million in total, including $7 million in attorneys’ fees and post-judgment interest.

The final judgment, entered on February 2, 2024, became enforceable by March 3. Cahen has not posted a bond or obtained a stay of enforcement, which has allowed Yuga Labs to begin post-judgment asset recovery.

The company has since subpoenaed Cahen’s accountant and served levies—delivered by U.S. Marshals—on banks and crypto platforms including Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, Robinhood, Coinbase, Binance, and Gemini.

“Yuga Labs has taken affirmative steps under California law, essentially every month since the Court issued its Final Judgment to locate and execute upon Cahen’s assets," the company said in its most recent filing. 

"Still, Cahen has made a mockery of this Court’s Final Judgement by refusing to pay any portion of the judgment or comply with any post-judgment discovery.”

Court records show Cahen moved $396,946 in crypto to avoid a levy served to Gemini. According to Yuga, this transfer occurred one day after the levy was issued—before Gemini could freeze his accounts—suggesting a deliberate effort to evade asset seizure.

Gemini, in response to a subpoena, provided transaction records from Cahen’s account, showing that he moved crypto into two new wallets.

Cahen maintains that he is not obligated to comply with discovery requests while his appeal is pending, despite lacking a formal stay. Cahen, who has promoted various meme coins and been accused of being a scammer, branded himself “the most censored man on X” following the suspension of his account last year.

Puerto Rican authorities confirmed in February that Cahen is wanted for aggravated assault. In February, he was placed on the top 10 most wanted list in San Juan, the island’s capital. His current project, a DEX called Pond0X, has been called a scam by critics.

The court has not yet ruled on Yuga Labs’ turnover motion. Decrypt has approached Cahen for comment via Instagram.