FOOTBALL superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has been taken to court for promoting the crypto currency exchange Binance.
The Al Nassr forward has been hit with a proposed class-action lawsuit from plaintiffs claiming they suffered losses from his promotion of the legally troubled Binance, CoinTelegraph.com reported today.
A filing on Tuesday to a United States of America district court in Florida claimed the 38-year-old Ronaldo “promoted, assisted in, and/or actively participated in the offer and sale of unregistered securities in coordination with Binance.”
Binance agreed a multi-year partnership with five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo in 2022 to promote a series of his own nonfungible tokens (NFTs), with at least three of the former Real Madrid and Manchester United star’s collections tied to Binance.
The complaint claims users who signed up for Ronaldo’s NFTs were more likely to use Binance for other purposes, such as investing in what they claim are unregistered securities, including Binance’s BNB and its crypto yield programmes, Coin Telegraph added.
“Ronaldo’s promotions solicited or assisted Binance in soliciting investments in unregistered securities by encouraging his millions of followers, fans, and supporters to invest with the Binance platform,” the court filing says.
Ronaldo was a key part of Binance’s growing popularity due to his influence and reach, with 850 million followers across social media, the complainants claim.
They allege the Portugal captain’s NFT sales were ‘incredibly successful’ at promoting the exchange, with a 500% increase in searches for Binance the week following the initial sale.
The suit alleges Ronaldo knew or should have known about Binance selling unregistered crypto securities, as he has ‘investment experience and vast resources to obtain outside advisers’.
The suit cited US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) guidance warning celebrities of the need to disclose payments received for promoting cryptocurrencies, which the complaint claims Ronaldo did not do.
The class-action lawsuit plaintiffs are Michael Sizemore, Mikey Vongdara and Gordon Lewis, who seek damages and funds to cover legal fees.
Meanwhile, Binance and its founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao are facing their own legal woes, pleading guilty and paying a $4.3 billion settlement to the US government for violations of Anti-Money Laundering laws and running an unregistered money-transmitting business.
Zhao has stepped down as CEO and faces up to 18 months in prison. Binance has agreed to up to five years of compliance monitoring by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury.
Comments are closed.