Cristiano Ronaldo is accused of misleading and breaking the law when promoting NFT Binance in a lawsuit that was filed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida.
Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a class-action lawsuit that aims to recover at least $1 billion for his part in endorsing “non-fungible tokens,” or NFTs, connected to cryptocurrencies that were released by the troubled cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
The lawsuit claims that Ronaldo’s endorsement of Binance was “deceptive and unlawful,” and it was filed on Monday in federal court in the Southern District of Florida. The plaintiffs contend that Binance’s affiliation with well-known individuals such as Ronaldo misled them into making risky and expensive investments.
Evidence now shows that Binance’s scam could only have reached such heights by offering and selling unregistered securities, with the cooperation and support of some of the world’s most affluent, influential, and well-known companies and celebrities—including Defendant Ronaldo—the lawsuit claims.
Ronaldo’s representatives declined to comment on Thursday. The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance, did not quickly respond to demands for a response from The Associated Press.
Ahead of the 2022 World Cup, Ronaldo debuted his first NFT “CR7” collection with Binance in November of last year. Starting at roughly $77 to $10,000, the NFTs included seven animated figurines that represented famous moments in Ronaldo’s life, such as bicycle-kick goals and his early years in Portugal.
The lawsuit filed on Monday claims that the publicity surrounding Ronaldo’s association with Binance was “incredibly successful,” citing a 500% surge in internet searches for “Binance” following the news of the soccer player’s NFTs. According to the lawsuit, the premium-level NFTs in the collection sold out in the first week.
Since then, Ronaldo has persisted in endorsing Binance on his official website and several social media accounts. Ronaldo most recently uploaded a video from Binance on X, the previous Twitter site, and stated that he was “cooking something up” with the cryptocurrency exchange on Tuesday.
NFTs are regular digital photos that have been uploaded to a cryptocurrency blockchain along with a version number, which is what gives them the appearance of “unique” collectibles. After a brief surge, the value of NFTs has essentially declined due to market crashes and scandals plaguing the cryptocurrency sector.
In a lawsuit filed by regulators over the summer, Binance was charged with operating as an unregistered securities exchange and breaking numerous securities laws in the United States. Last week, the cryptocurrency exchange decided to pay a settlement of about $4 billion, and Changpeng Zhao, the company’s founder, resigned as CEO and entered a guilty plea to a charge connected to his negligence in preventing money laundering on the platform.
Ronaldo’s lawsuit this week is hardly the first instance of a star being sued for cryptocurrency advertising. Several celebrities and athletes, including Tom Brady and Larry David, were named as defendants in a class-action lawsuit filed against FTX last year. FTX was the second-biggest cryptocurrency exchange before to its collapse in November 2022. According to the lawsuit, the celebrities should have been held accountable for endorsing FTX’s doomed business plan.
Ronaldo is among the most well-known and affluent sportsmen in the planet. He has played for Manchester United in England, Real Madrid in Spain, Juventus in Italy, and the national team of his native Portugal. He now plays for Al Nassr, a professional team in Saudi Arabia.