Singapore's High Court has granted permission to financial investigation firm Intelligence Sanctuary (iSanctuary) to attach non-fungible tokens (NFTs) containing legal documents to cold wallets associated with a hack. This decision came following a global freezing order, in the form of a soul-bound NFT, that was placed on the wallet in question. It's important to note that this NFT does not prevent transactions in the wallet but serves as an alert to counterparties and exchanges that the wallet is connected to a hacking incident. Additionally, iSanctuary claims to have devised a method, aided by NFTs, to track funds leaving the wallet, with the NFT permanently attached to it.
The initiative was taken after a businessman hired iSanctuary to investigate the loss of $3 million in cryptocurrency assets. The company was able to trace the stolen funds, presenting both on-chain and off-chain evidence to the Singapore High Court. As a result, the court issued its first global injunction based on iSanctuary's findings. The investigation by iSanctuary revealed a series of cold wallets holding proceeds from criminal activities. The court accepted the method using NFTs as a means of providing services in this context.
Although the exact details of the case have not been disclosed, iSanctuary credited Mintology, an app developed by the Singapore-based NFT studio Mintable, as the creator of the NFTs. This connection was indirectly confirmed by Zach Burks, the founder of Mintable, in a tweet.
According to The Straits Times, the case is related to the theft of private keys and involves Singapore's cryptocurrency exchanges being used for laundering funds obtained from hacks perpetrated by scammers posing as individuals from Singapore. The case has international implications, spanning countries from Singapore to Spain, Ireland, the UK, and other European nations. Jonathan Benton, the founder of iSanctuary, stated that this development is a "game changer" that enables swift action to identify those holding illegal assets and enforce civil or criminal orders through the use of NFTs.
Notably, NFTs have been used for innovative legal purposes in various jurisdictions, such as delivering court summonses in Italy and the United States.
