Shaquille O’Neal, the basketball star turned business mogul, is at the center of a class-action lawsuit linked to the Astrals NFT project.
The case, which has captured public and legal attention, has recently moved forward following a ruling from the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The court’s decision granted partial progress for the plaintiffs, while dismissing other claims.
Lawsuit Moves Forward with Mixed Results
The core of the lawsuit revolves around O’Neal’s promotion of Astrals, a project featuring 10,000 3D NFT avatars and a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) meant to support innovative projects.
Investors, led by Daniel Harper, allege that O’Neal misled them by endorsing the project, encouraging investments even as the market faltered after the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November 2022.
A key point in the case is a GIF O’Neal posted in Astrals’ Discord community, featuring a scene from The Wolf of Wall Street with the caption, “I’m not F***ing Leaving.”
Plaintiffs argue that this message was intended to reassure and attract investors, only for O’Neal to allegedly withdraw from the project soon after, leading to a sharp decline in the value of Astrals’ assets.
Court’s Mixed Ruling: O’Neal Escapes Some Charges but Faces Others
The court dismissed claims that O’Neal was a “control person,” meaning he did not have actual control over the project.
However, it upheld the allegation that O’Neal acted as a “seller” due to his active promotion and solicitation of the NFTs, despite not holding an official executive role within the company.
Additionally, the court did not dismiss the claim that the Astrals tokens were unregistered securities, a significant issue in the ongoing regulation of cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
Implications and Next Steps
This ruling is likely to have far-reaching implications, potentially setting a precedent for other celebrity-endorsed crypto projects facing legal scrutiny.
O’Neal and the Astrals project must respond to the allegations by September 12, 2024.
Despite the seriousness of the claims, O’Neal has yet to make a public statement regarding the lawsuit.
Feature Image Credit: Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/AP
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