For Cristiano Ronaldo, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, it's not a good day...
A class-action lawsuit of a staggering 1 billion dollars has been filed against the Portuguese star for his role in promoting NFTs issued by the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The lawsuit was filed in the federal court of the Southern District of Florida, alleging that Ronaldo's promotion of Binance was misleading and illegal.
"Evidence now reveals that Binance's fraud could only reach such heights through the offer and sale of unregistered securities, with the willing help and assistance of some of the wealthiest, powerful, and recognizable organizations and celebrities around the world - just like the defendant Ronaldo," states the lawsuit.
The Portuguese star teamed up with Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, in November 2022, following a high-publicity launch. His "CR7" NFT collection was launched just before the 2022 World Cup, resulting in a 500% surge in online searches. As claimed in the lawsuit, the NFTs sold out in the first week. 2023 began bleakly for Binance, as the company was accused of operating as an unregistered securities exchange and violating a series of U.S. securities laws in a lawsuit by regulators, as reported by The Guardian.
Cooking something up with @binance https://t.co/FMAP5GAdxE
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) November 28, 2023
The crypto exchange had to pay a settlement of as much as 4 billion dollars. Yet, Ronaldo promoted Binance on his official website and social media. Most recently, on X/Twitter, where he recently wrote that he's "cooking something" with the crypto exchange on Tuesday. Who could have guessed that it would be a lawsuit for promoting worthless NFTs? Representatives of Al Nassr's striker have refused to comment.
