Dapper Labs Ruling Dunks on Private Networks

In particular, Judge Marrero is concerned that Dapper Labs restricts the trading of Moments to the Flow blockchain, a network built by Dapper as a faster and cheaper alternative to Ethereum. While this raises questions about profits and transaction fees, the judge also argues that, on a technical level, “by privatizing the blockchain” Moments “purchasers must rely on Dapper Labs’s expertise and managerial efforts as well as its continued success and existence.” Writing in agreement with the plaintiffs, the judge found this situation altogether different from “public blockchains, such as that underlying Bitcoin.”