Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo has been hit with a class-action lawsuit seeking at least US$1 billion (NZ$1.6 billion) in damages for his role in promoting cryptocurrency-related “non-fungible tokens”, or NFTs, issued by the beleaguered cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida alleges that Ronaldo’s promotion of Binance was “deceptive and unlawful”. Binance’s partnership with high-profile figures like Ronaldo, the plaintiffs claim, led them into costly and unsafe investments.
“Evidence now reveals that Binance’s 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 globe – just like Defendant Ronaldo,” the suit reads.
Representatives for Ronaldo and Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, did not immediately return requests for comment 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 US$77 to US$10,000 — featured seven animated statues depicting Ronaldo from iconic moments in his life, from bicycle-kick goals to his childhood in Portugal.
The suit says that the promotional efforts of Ronaldo’s Binance partnership were “incredibly successful” — alleging a 500% increase in online searches using the keyword “Binance” after the star’s NFTs were announced.
The collection’s premium-level 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.
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” collectables.
NFTs 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 US$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 platform.
