Al Nassr forward Cristiano Ronaldo faces over $1 billion lawsuit over US cryptocurrency crisis. The plaintiffs filed suit in a U.S. court after the Binance platform was affected, arguing that the Portuguese Gunner’s ads prompted them to invest in the platform.
According to well-known media outlets “BBC” and “Cointelegraph”, the complaint has been processed in a Florida court, which accused the Portuguese football player of “promoting, assisting and/or participating in the purchase and sale of unregistered securities” in coordination with Binance. Likewise, the lawsuit claims the former Manchester United player should have known “Binance was selling cryptocurrency securities” because he had “investment experience and extensive resources to obtain advisors.”
Cristiano Ronaldo signed a multi-year partnership with Binance in mid-2022. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner launched his own non-fungible token (NFT), and at least three of the football star’s collectibles are linked to Binance.
In turn, the lawsuit also suggests that Ronaldo is responsible for the rapid growth of the cryptocurrency platform, thanks to his 850 million followers on the social network. They claimed their NFT sale was “extremely successful,” with Binance searches increasing 500% a week after the initial sale.
Binance in legal trouble?
The platform and its founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao already face their own legal problems after pleading guilty and paying a $4.3 billion settlement to the U.S. government for violating anti-money laundering laws and operating an unregistered money transfer business. .
Mr. Zhao has resigned as CEO and faces up to 18 months in prison. The U.S. Securities Commission (SEC) also sued Binance, accusing it of selling unregistered securities and misappropriating customer funds.