Cristiano Ronaldo faces USD1B class-action lawsuit after promoting for Binance

Cristiano Ronaldo birthday 2024 Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has been hit with classaction lawsuit seeking at least USD 1 billion in damages for his role in promoting cryptocurrencyrelated nonfungible tokens or NFTs issued by the beleaguered cryptocurrency exchange Binance The lawsuit filed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida Monday alleges that Ronaldos promotion of Binance was deceptive and unlawfulAlso Read Former Brazil and Atletico Madrid defender Filipe Luis says hell retire at seasons endBinances partnership with highprofile figures like Ronaldo the plaintiffs claim led them into costly and unsafe investments Evidence now reveals that Binances fraud was only able to reach such heights through the offer and sale of unregistered securities with the willing help and assistance of some of the wealthiest powerful and recognised organisations and celebrities across the globejust like Defendant Ronaldo the suit reads Representatives for Ronaldo declined to comment Thursday Binance the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange did not immediately return requests for statement from The Associated Press Ronaldo launched his inaugural NFT CR7 collection with Binance in November of last year ahead of the 2022 World Cup The NFTs which had starting prices ranging from the equivalent of about 77 to 10000 featured seven animated statues depicting Ronaldo from iconic moments in his life from bicyclekick goals to his childhood in PortugalCristiano Ronaldo birthday 2024 Ronaldos promotion of Binance deceptive and unlawfulMondays suit says that the promotional efforts of Ronaldos Binance partnership were incredibly successful alleging a 50037 increase in online searches using the keyword Binance after the soccer stars NFTs was announced The collections premiumlevel NFTs sold out within the first week the suit claims Ronaldo has since continued to promote Binance on his official website and social media platforms Most recently on X the platform formerly known as Twitter Ronaldo reposted a Binance video and wrote that he was Cooking something up with the crypto exchange on Tuesday NFTs are ordinary digital images with an attached version number that have been added to a cryptocurrency blockchain a process designed to make them unique collectiblesNFTs enjoyed a brief boom but have since largely collapsed in value as the crypto industry has been marred by scandals and market meltdowns Over the summer Binance was accused of operating as an unregistered securities exchange and violating a slew of US securities laws in a lawsuit from regulators The crypto exchange agreed last week to pay a roughly 4 billion settlement and its founder Changpeng Zhao stepped down as CEO and pleaded guilty to a felony related to his failure to prevent money laundering on the platformThis weeks lawsuit against Ronaldo isnt the first time that a celebrity has faced litigation over crypto promotions Last year a host of Hollywood and sports stars including Larry David and Tom Brady were named as defendants in a classaction suit against FTX which was the secondlargest crypto exchange before it collapsed in November 2022 The suit argued that the celebrities status made them culpable for promoting FTXs failed business model Ronaldo is one of the most recognizable and wealthiest athletes in the world He leads his home country Portugals national team and has played for the Spanish team Real Madrid the Italian club Juventus and Manchester United in England He now plays for the Saudi Arabian professional team Al NassrWith agency inputs