Cristiano Ronaldo’s promotion of Binance was allegedly false and illegal, according to a lawsuit submitted 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 filed on Monday claims that the publicity surrounding Ronaldo’s partnership 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.
The lawsuit claims that Ronaldo’s advertising of Binance was “deceptive and unlawful,” and the complaint was filed on Monday in federal court in the Southern District of Florida. The plaintiffs argue that Binance’s affiliation with well-known individuals such as Ronaldo misled them into making risky and expensive investments.
NFTs, a widely recognized phenomenon in the cryptocurrency space, essentially convert digital art as well as other collectibles into unique, verifiable assets that can be easily traded on the blockchain.
In particular, selling unregistered cryptocurrency securities subject to extreme volatility is one of the ways Ronaldo is accused of making “deceptive statements” and of having “allowed his image and name to be deployed in connection with Binance’s misleading claims in promotions of its product,” according to the lawsuit.
In addition, the accusers claim that Binance and Ronaldo “were aware that the advertisements were aimed at customers inexperienced with crypto” and that Ronaldo failed to disclose “the manner in which or sum of his compensation by Binance,” as required by US law.
According to the lawsuit, celebrities are required to “disclose to the general public from whom and what amount you receive in compensation to promote investment in securities,” as stated by Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler. Kim Kardashian was fined over $1 million by the SEC for a similar offense last year. The lawsuit is a class action with a “sum exceeding” $1 billion in damages. Remarkably, Ronaldo continues to endorse the business; just this past November 28, he shared a Binance advertisement on his 110 million-follower X account.
