Cristiano Ronaldo under legal scrutiny for promoting unregistered securities through Binance-connected NFTs.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been the target of legal proceedings recently for unregistered securities and advertising on Binance. It is specifically claimed that the football celebrity’s NFTs connected to Binance have encouraged investments in unregistered securities on the cryptocurrency platform.
Ronaldo filed a lawsuit for supporting unlawful investments and Binance
As expected, a class action lawsuit has been proposed against well-known professional football player Cristiano Ronaldo by those who allege they lost money as a result of his endorsement of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, which is currently embroiled in legal disputes.
In particular, a document submitted to a Florida district court on November 27th in the United States asserts that Ronaldo:
“has encouraged, supported, and/or actively taken part in the offering and sale of securities that are not registered with Binance.”
We would like to remind you that in 2022, Ronaldo and Binance struck a multi-year collaboration to promote several sets of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), at least three of which have a direct connection to Binance.
According to the allegation, the people who purchased Ronaldo’s NFTs had a propensity to utilize Binance for other purposes, such as making investments in unregistered securities like BNB and its cryptocurrency yield schemes.
According to the complaint, Binance was prompted by Ronaldo’s endorsements to ask for investments in unregistered securities, which in turn pushed millions of his fans to use the platform to make investments.
We emphasize that Ronaldo is seen as a major contributor to Binance’s success because of his enormous impact and 850 million social media followers. In the week after NFTs were first sold, searches on the platform increased by 500%.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s claim and the legal disputes surrounding the conversation with the SEC
The lawsuit also states that Ronaldo should have known that Binance was offering unregistered cryptocurrency securities because he had investment skills and the means to seek outside counsel.
Furthermore, Ronaldo is charged with violating the rules set down by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which mandate that funds received for cryptocurrency promotion be disclosed.
Through the class action, Michael Sizemore, Mikey Vongdara, and Gordon Lewis, the plaintiffs, are requesting damages and reimbursement for their legal costs.
As we all know, Binance and its founder, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, have been involved in their own legal troubles, entering guilty pleas and having to pay 4.3 billion dollars in fines for breaking anti-money laundering regulations and engaging in unregistered money transfers.
Furthermore, Binance has consented to up to five years of compliance monitoring by US authorities, while Zhao has resigned as CEO, potentially facing up to eighteen months in prison.
Additionally, Binance has been sued by the SEC for selling unregistered securities, and the agency is looking into claims of inappropriate handling of consumer assets.
Are there any similarities between FTX and the SEC’s inquiry into Binance US?
The Department of Justice’s claims against Binance and its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, prompted the SEC to step up its investigation of Binance US.
Following the agreement with the DOJ over Binance, the SEC is attempting to bolster its case by looking for similarities with the FTX probe. The current complaint alleges that client assets have been put at risk.
The SEC has expressed concerns about Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX and is looking into evidence that suggests Binance US has given CZ a pathway to control assets.
The SEC has made allegations of possible fraud, but as of right now, no hard proof exists. Nonetheless, the Department of Justice’s current probe into Binance may provide impetus for the SEC’s endeavors.
In any case, there might be severe repercussions from the SEC’s stepped-up probe into probable fraud at Binance US, including possible legal action and financial penalties.
In fact, the way things are now being monitored runs the risk of undermining investor and user confidence and lowering the platform’s user base.
Negative publicity and legal issues may also harm Binance’s brand and have an impact on the larger regulatory environment.
Trading volumes on Binance US are currently drastically dropping and don’t appear to be recovering anytime soon. However, trading volumes on Binance appear to be unaffected at this time on a worldwide scale.
