The attendees of an event dedicated to ape-themed nonfungible tokens experienced eye problems after an aggressive light show.
ApeFest, an event dedicated to the Bored Ape Yacht Club series of NFTs, was hosted over the weekend by Yuga Labs, the creators of the tokens, which are digital artifacts that are coded in a way to make them unique and tradeable in the blockchain. Several people who attended the Hong Kong event reported the day after that they had experienced "severe eye burn."
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"30 hours since woke up with severe eye burn, I've visited emergency hospital and eye clinic and spent there a total of 6 hours," Adrian Zdunczyk tweeted. Zdunczyk attended the event over the weekend and was diagnosed with "photokeratitis over both eyes, accident related," also known as the sort of blindness that some experience while staring at the snow. The crypto expert is best known in the crypto community for providing chart-based technical analysis of digital assets.
[For information purposes only]
— Adrian Zduńczyk, CMT (@crypto_birb) November 6, 2023
So far, 30 hours since woke up with severe eye burn, I’ve visited emergency hospital and eye clinic and spent there a total of 6 hours.
Got diagnosed with “photokeratitis over both eyes, accident related” with prescribed steroid eye drops and eye… https://t.co/qZadVqsQFg pic.twitter.com/5EULptCR4H
Others reported being in extreme pain and being unable to open their eyes and that they had to visit the emergency room afterward.
Yuga Labs acknowledged the adverse effects but claimed that "much less than 1% of those attending and working the event had these symptoms."
"We are aware of this situation and are taking it seriously," a spokesperson for Yuga Labs said. "We are actively reaching out to those affected to better understand the root cause."
Attendees noted the event's use of lasers and strobe lights and claimed incorrect bulbs were the cause of the strain.
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Bored Apes was launched in April 2021 and featured images of various apes looking bored in multiple outfits. The NFT line is considered one of the most prominent examples of NFTs since it got a lot of hype due to Justin Bieber buying his ape at around $1.3 million in January 2022. The value of the NFT, though, had dropped 95% as of July 2023.
Yuga Labs is facing an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company also faces a class-action lawsuit alleging that the Apes are an unregistered security promoted through fraudulent, undisclosed celebrity endorsements.