Cristiano Ronaldo, current Saudi Al-Nassr footballer, faces a class action lawsuit of more than $1 billion in the United States by a group of investors from Binance, the largest digital currency exchange platform in the world, and of which The athlete was an image. A few days ago, it accepted a million-dollar penalty from the US Department of Justice for money laundering, which led to the resignation of its founder.
As the BBC reported this Wednesday, Ronaldo and Binance announced a year ago the launch of a collection of NFTs, a type of unique digital asset that can be bought and sold, under the CR7 brand. According to Ronaldo, it was a way to give back to his fans “all the years of support.” “We are going to change the world of NFTs and take football to the next level,” said the Portuguese in a promotional video. These assets had a price of 77 dollars at their launch, but are currently barely worth one, after the failure that all these types of products have experienced in the last year.
The plaintiffs point out that this alliance between Binance and Ronaldo led them to delve into the world of cryptocurrencies. To this end, they argue that Internet searches for Binance as a result of the agreement skyrocketed by 500%, and that all of this led them to invest in unregistered securities of the platform, such as its BNB cryptocurrency.
According to the SEC, the American financial supervisor, these assets can be considered securities, so celebrities must abide by the laws established by the country to advertise them. For example, reveal who and how much they are paid to promote investment in these assets. “When celebrities advertise investment opportunities, including crypto assets, investors should ensure that the investments are right for them, and they should know why the celebrities are promoting them,” said SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.
The plaintiffs argue that Ronaldo should have disclosed the compensation he received from Binance, but did not do so.
The lawsuit was filed a week after the US Department of Justice claimed more than $4 billion from Binance for money laundering, after investigating alleged help in evading US sanctions against Iran and Russia. The company has also been under official scrutiny to verify whether it enabled transactions that helped finance Hamas.
Its founder, Changpeng Zhao, resigned last week after pleading guilty to violating the US Bank Secrecy Act and accepting the sanction.
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