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Exchange Promotion Carries High Risks! Football Celebrity C Ronaldo, MLB, and F1 Racing Face Collective Lawsuits One After Another

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Exchange Promotion Carries High Risks! Football Celebrity C Ronaldo, MLB, and F1 Racing Face Collective Lawsuits One After Another

Cointelegraph reported that international soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a class-action lawsuit for promoting the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, with multiple plaintiffs claiming to have suffered losses as a result. Previously, entities such as Major League Baseball (MLB) and Formula One (F1) have also faced lawsuits for promoting the now-defunct exchange FTX.

Cristiano Ronaldo Faces Collective Lawsuit for Promoting Binance

Reports citing documents from a Florida court revealed that world-renowned professional footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a collective lawsuit. Multiple plaintiffs allege that Ronaldo, through his advertising partnership with Binance, indirectly participated in and assisted Binance in promoting the issuance and sale of unregistered securities, causing losses to investors who had just entered the cryptocurrency field.

According to the documents, the plaintiffs referenced the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s past statements on celebrity endorsements in cryptocurrency cases, pointing out that Ronaldo did not disclose the compensation received from Binance:

The law requires celebrities to disclose how much compensation you received from a cryptocurrency company to attract people to invest, and you cannot lie to investors.

Previously, Ronaldo signed a long-term cooperation agreement with Binance in June last year and subsequently released his NFTs on the exchange, offering benefits such as signed merchandise giveaways and virtual meet-ups. It is reported that multiple promotional content pieces after the initial NFT sale successfully increased search volume for "Binance" by over 5 times.

The plaintiffs believe that users who purchased his NFTs were more likely to engage in other transactions on Binance, including purchasing "unregistered securities" tokens such as $BNB or other investment schemes:

Given Ronaldo's investment experience and access to external resources, he should have been aware of Binance's involvement in selling unregistered cryptocurrency securities.

MLB and F1 Also Named in Lawsuits

Just yesterday, MLB and the Mercedes-Benz F1 racing team were also named in a lawsuit alleging they promoted the now-defunct exchange FTX, accused of aiding fraud through marketing activities.

The plaintiffs claim that both groups prominently displayed the FTX logo on their own cars, athletes, and referee uniforms, marking the first time MLB had a sponsored brand on referee uniforms:

Without Mercedes F1 and MLB promoting FTX together, this advertising strategy may not have been as effective.

Celebrity ambassadors of FTX may face lawsuits! Besides Stephen Curry and Shohei Ohtani, who else?

Continued Turbulence for Binance

Previously, Binance and its founder CZ, who were charged by the SEC, pleaded guilty and stepped down a few days ago, paying a $4.3 billion fine for offenses including operating an unregistered money transfer business and money laundering.

However, despite the presiding judge's weariness, the SEC reportedly continues to investigate Binance, seeking to prove fraud allegations or potential permission to view and control user assets by Binance or CZ.

Earlier, CZ resigned as chairman of the Binance US board, no longer participating in the company's voting and governance.