Shaquille O'Neal Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Astrals NFT Promotion, Court Rules He Is a "Seller"

Shaquille O'Neal is currently facing a class action lawsuit related to his promotional work for the Astrals NFT project. He needs to respond to the court regarding these allegations.

A recent court ruling has both granted and dismissed parts of this lawsuit. The court decided that O'Neal is not a "control person," which means he didn’t have actual power over the project.

The Astrals project features a collection of 10,000 non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which are 3D avatars. It also includes a decentralized autonomous organization, known as a DAO, aimed at supporting innovative projects. The NFTs serve as virtual avatars, while the Galaxy token is the governance token for the DAO.

The lawsuit claims O'Neal promoted Astrals by encouraging investors to "hop on the wave before it's too late." Even after the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022, he reportedly shared a GIF on Discord from The Wolf of Wall Street that said, "I'm not F***ing Leaving." The lawsuit alleges that he later distanced himself from the project, causing a significant drop in the value of Astrals' financial products.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled that O'Neal qualifies as a "seller" because he actively encouraged the purchase of these products. This was despite his argument that he was neither an officer nor a director of the company. The court did not dismiss the claim that Astrals sold unregistered "securities."

Adam Moskowitz, the attorney for the investors, noted that this ruling could provide clarity for other ongoing crypto class action lawsuits. He stated, “We are extremely fortunate that District Judge Moreno authored the first extensive ruling on cryptocurrency and celebrity promotions, bringing clarity and understanding to many other pending crypto class actions.”

O'Neal and the Astrals project must respond to these allegations by September 12, 2024. As of now, CoinDesk has not been able to reach O'Neal for a comment.