Wired — 24.02.2021.

Following the NFT sale of Beeple’s work by Christies for nearly $70 million, William O’Rorke was interviewed by Gian Volpicelli for Wired as part of an investigation on the boom of the non-fungible token phenomenon in the art world. 

William O’Rorke points out that while NFTs are mostly exempt from financial regulation, the main issue is intellectual property law.

« At a more basic level, William O’Rorke, a partner at Paris-based law firm ORWL Avocats, says that while the structure of NFTs – modelled after artwork rather than currencies or shares – means they are not subjected to the kind of financial regulation other kinds of cryptoassets have to abide by, they still risk falling foul of intellectual property law (for instance, if selling someone else’s artwork as one’s own) and consumer law protection. »