Adaptation note: This story is adapted from a matter handled by Lingtu Law. Party identities, case details and the outcome have been changed, and it does not reflect the actual result of the original case.

Mr. M is a digital collectibles enthusiast. He agreed to sell an ape avatar NFT with rare traits to a buyer for a six-figure dollar price, payable in two installments. The buyer paid half, then kept putting off the balance. The NFT never left Mr. M's wallet.

• The buyer stopped replying and stopped paying. While waiting, Mr. M had turned away other interested buyers and was carrying the crypto market's price risk himself, in a market where NFT prices can drop fast.
• Mr. M had drafted his own termination proposal: cancel the deal but keep part of the payment as compensation. If written as liquidated damages, a California court could treat a clause like that as an unenforceable penalty.
• After the demand letter went out, the buyer didn't appear. Instead a third party surfaced, claiming the money already paid belonged to his investors, offering only a token amount, and hinting at a countersuit against Mr. M.

• The demand letter was signed by an attorney and sent the same day two ways, by email and by certified mail with return receipt, with every step documented. When the other side claimed the email never arrived, we resent it in the original thread quoting the original text, keeping the timeline unbroken.
• We rewrote the retained amount as compensation for actual losses (the buyers he passed up, market price risk, and enforcement costs) and stated expressly that it was not a penalty. The refund came with a firm deadline, leaving no room for "we'll sort it out later."
• We didn't respond to the third party's threats; they were archived as-is for attorney review. Before negotiating, Mr. M set his settlement floor in writing, which the attorney kept confidential while opening higher. We also insisted on two points: the buyer personally had to sign as a party, and any refund would go only to whoever actually paid, backed by the original payment records, so no one could come after the money later.

Date	Milestone
Late Mar 2026	Mr. M retained Lingtu and began collection
A few days later	Attorney-signed demand letter sent by email and certified mail the same day
Within a week	The other side sent a settlement offer; Mr. M authorized the attorney to negotiate
Apr 2026	All parties signed a written settlement: Mr. M kept substantial compensation and the NFT, with mutual releases

The other side first tried to settle for a token sum. In the end they signed an agreement the buyer himself put his name to. Mr. M still has the NFT in his wallet, the compensation is in hand, and no one can reopen this deal later.

All parties signed a written settlement. Mr. M kept a substantial amount as compensation and kept the NFT, and all parties released their claims against each other.