In order to settle a lawsuit brought by holders, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to pay $11 million to the Astrals NFT collection.
Hall-of-Famer O’Neal reached the settlement after allegations that he promoted unregistered securities tied to the Astrals non-fungible token project on Solana.
According to court records, O’Neal, the collection’s main celebrity, leveraged his notoriety to draw investment into Astrals NFTs.
The case draws attention to the flood of pop culture personalities that entered web3 venues during the 2019 NFT boom.
However, many investors were left with depreciated tokens by the market slump in 2022 and 2023, and they vented their fury on Discord servers.
Even as bankruptcies like FTX caused wider drops in virtual currencies and NFT markets, O’Neal famously posted the Wolf of Wall Street “I’m not f***ing leaving” joke on Astrals’ Discord, urging holders to keep their tokens.
In the end, Astrals NFT investors sued O’Neal in a Florida district court as part of a class action lawsuit.
The court moved forward with the claims in spite of his attempts to avoid subpoenas and have the case dismissed. Federico Moreno, a Miami District Judge, decided that Astrals NFTs were legally securities.
Galaxy, a decentralized autonomous organization token that O’Neal had previously advocated, was also mentioned in the verdict.
Judge Moreno must approve the $11 million settlement before it can be legally enforced. Investors will be able to recoup damages and pay legal fees if the funds are accepted.
O’Neil is also involved in a consolidated lawsuit involving the troubled cryptocurrency exchange FTX. O’Neil and Tom Brady were among the superstars who appeared in Super Bowl commercials and other FTX promotional agreements.
