Shaq Signs $1.8 Million Check to End His Crypto Drama

Shaquille O’Neal can finally push a sigh of relief. Basketball legend that has become a businessman and television personality has agreed to pay $ 1.8 million to settle a collective appeal on his role in promoting the cryptocurrency exchange now disappeared FTX.

Although payment firm a legal chapter for the old laker, he also marks a turning point in the way the courts deal with celebrity mentions in the volatile world of crypto, a space where celebrity once offered media and coverage.

O’Neal is among the first big names to reach a colony in the case of high-level FTX, which also appoints the legend of football Tom Brady, his ex-wife Gisele Bündchen, the superstar of the NBA Steph Curry, the tennis player Naomi Osaka and the creator of Seinfeld Larry David. Some of the complaints against these celebrities, who say they were not aware of the risks, have already been rejected.

But O’Neal’s decision to settle stands out.

He was accused of promoting FTX to his fans and investors, appearing in a series of marketing campaigns. In return, the company would have sponsored its music festival company, the fun house of Shaq. According to the trial, O’Neal promoted partnership through publications and videos on social networks. He was allegedly paid $ 750,000 for his approval.

“The complainants are looking for help on the scale of the class of Mr. O’Neal, who was an alleged influencer and celebrity paid by FTX to present FTX to his disciples and the participants in the event as a safe and legitimate alternative to the other exchanges of cryptocurrency,” said the court document (FTX, SD Flagaps, SD Flag.

A first regulation was concluded last November. It was unveiled in May by the court and on June 9, the last $ 1.8 million agreement was filed with the American district court for the southern Florida district by Adam Moskowitz, the lawyer for the applicants. O’Neal must pay the amount within 30 days.

The FTX, which deposited a bankruptcy of Chapter 11 on November 11, 2022, had become a cryptographic juggernaut thanks in part to its celebrity ambassadors. But behind the scenes, the platform used customer assets as a guarantee to borrow funds that have been sent to his sister company, Alameda Research, for trading and investments. When the Chamber of Cards collapsed, the two companies were submitted, arousing prosecution against the founder Sam Bankman Fried, his inner circle and the stars that approved the brand.

The O’Neal regulation is not only to resolve their personal responsibility. It is an awakening to celebrities who cashed the boom of cryptography without understanding or disclosing the risks.

“I don’t understand,” O’Neal told CNBC in 2021 about cryptocurrencies. “So, I’m probably going to stay away until I fully understand what it is.” He added: “According to my experience, it’s too good to be true.”

However, he did not stay away.

Since the implosion of the FTX, regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission have repressed the approvals of non -disclosed paid crypto. The SEC now emphasizes “fair disclosure” and “financial literacy”, warning that fame is no longer a shield.

The message to celebrities is unequivocal: if you promote it, you are now supposed to “own” it, even if the company collapses.

And it is not the only legal headache linked to Shaq’s crypto. Last November, he was ordered to pay $ 11 million to settle a separate legal action involving Astrals, a stranded non -bubble tokens (NFT) that he co -founded with his son Myles O’Neal. (NFTs are digital collectibles that can be held, sold or exchanged online.) The project has promised a metovense experience where users would interact via NFT avatars. But after the fall of FTX, Shaq would have been distant from the company, letting investors fend for themselves.

Now, with $ 12.8 million in cryptographic colonies to his credit, O’Neal can think twice before lending his name to another crypto business.