Mintable, a company dedicated to exploring and expanding the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), has taken a groundbreaking step by creating a unique NFT designed to facilitate the recovery of millions of dollars in stolen cryptocurrency. This remarkable NFT, commissioned by London-based financial investigators Intelligent Sanctuary (iSanctuary), is equipped with a Worldwide Freezing Order (WFO) granted by the Singapore High Court, marking a pioneering achievement in the legal system of this Southeast Asian city-state.
iSanctuary, an organization with former Metropolitan Police Chief Lord Hogan-Howe as Chair of its Advisory Board, is collaborating with Mintable’s B2B service brand, Mintology.app. They are involved in an international financial crime investigation related to the theft of a cryptocurrency password, known as a private key, and the subsequent fraudulent transfer of millions of cryptocurrency coins into private wallets.
The inherently digital nature of the stolen assets necessitated a petition to the Singapore court for permission to issue a WFO in the form of an NFT capable of publicly identifying the cryptocurrency in case of any attempt to spend, transfer, or exchange the stolen assets. Mintology employed Soulbound token technology to mint the WFO-carrying NFT and permanently attach it to the target wallets. Soulbound tokens are non-transferable once received, making them immutable. This unique NFT contains all the court documents prepared by iSanctuary and a mechanism for iSanctuary investigators to fulfill the effect of service for the Singapore Court.
Zach Burks, Founder and CEO of Mintable, stated that this is just one instance of the innovative applications of NFT technology being developed at Mintology. He highlighted the potential for NFTs in various sectors, from education to gaming, hospitality, and legal services, as societies embrace the possibilities of open-source, decentralized digital environments.
Mintology.app, backed by Zach Burks and the Mintable team, is the first known NFT company to use Soulbound token technology in this manner. While a UK court has permitted the use of NFT technology to serve a WFO in at least one recorded case, this marks the first novel solution involving NFTs in a case in Singapore.
Earlier this year, the Singapore High Court made a landmark decision affirming that cryptocurrency assets will be recognized by Singapore law as a form of property capable of being held in trust. The court’s judgment in the case of ByBit Fintech Ltd v. Ho Kai Xin and others had a significant impact on this development.
Jonathan Benton, Founder and CEO of Intelligent Sanctuary, emphasized the need for a digital-first solution to address complex digital fraud cases and the innovative approach adopted by iSanctuary and Mintable with the endorsement and direction of the Singapore courts.
