MANHATTAN, NY — Judge Jefferey Watkins of the New York Southern District court has ruled that appending the shrug emoji to a piece of financial advice will nullify said advice.

A case of alleged improper financial advice-giving began when the Moon Goblins NFT team posted the following tweet from their official account:

The prosecuting attorney made a strong case that this particular string of emojis coming from the Moon Goblin account can mean only one thing: “Moon Goblins are going to increase in value substantially.”

This argument was bolstered by a recent ruling from Judge Victor Marrero that emojis can convey financial advice. Fortunately for the Moon Goblin team, they had responded to their original tweet within seconds with a shrug emoji. That shrug emoji became the cornerstone of their defense in the case.

“It really would have been better if Moon Goblins had included the shrug at the end of the original string of emojis,” wrote Judge Watkins in his formal opinion. “Even still, the shrug must be taken into due consideration, and the shrug emoji in this particular context can only mean one thing to any reasonable person: while the Moon Goblin team is confident in their project, there is still uncertainty about whether it will increase substantially in value. I rule in favor of the defendants.”

The financial pitfalls of promises of value constitute a serious detriment to the investment landscape. But perhaps the shrug emoji will save many from the ire of the Federal Courts. This landmark decision is likely to set precedent for cartoon characters who give advice on Twitter, as well as other emoji-based legal cases.

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