tl;dr
NBA Champion Shaquille O’Neal has reached a confidential settlement with investors who sued him over his endorsements of the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX. The settlement, signed on April 1 and revealed in a court filing on April 23, awaits court approval. O’Neal was among several celebrities sued...
NBA Champion Shaquille O’Neal has reached a confidential settlement with investors who sued him over his endorsements of the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX. The agreement, signed on April 1 and revealed in a court filing on April 23, awaits court approval. O’Neal was one of several celebrities sued for promoting FTX before its bankruptcy in late 2022, with investors attributing their financial losses to these endorsements.
O’Neal appeared in several high-profile FTX promotional materials, encouraging users to sign up on the platform. Although he later described himself as only a "paid spokesperson," his public involvement made him a target in the lawsuits following FTX’s collapse. This settlement follows a previous $11 million settlement O’Neal made tied to an NFT lawsuit involving the Solana-based project Astrals, which faced claims of misrepresentation and selling unregistered securities.
In parallel, FTX's bankruptcy proceedings continue, with the exchange preparing a new round of creditor payments scheduled to begin in May. The earlier payment phase saw $1.2 billion distributed to claimants holding balances below $50,000, providing some relief. However, creditors are now cautioned about phishing scams exploiting leaked data to target affected investors. Advocates urge vigilance, advising recipients to verify all communication through official channels and avoid clicking unknown links.
This series of events underscores the ongoing legal and financial reverberations from one of the largest failures in the cryptocurrency sector, highlighting the risks celebrities face in endorsing digital asset platforms and the hazards investors confront amid bankruptcy recoveries.