On November 27, 2023, the Florida district court filed a lawsuit, dragging global football star Cristiano Ronaldo into an ongoing legal battle around cryptocurrency. The lawsuit claims that Ronaldo’s endorsement of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance played a pivotal role in attracting investors who suffered substantial losses due to the sale of unregistered securities on the platform.
Binance-Ronaldo partnership
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, had entered into several multi-year partnerships with Ronaldo to promote non-fungible tokens (NFT) collections since mid-2022. These digital collectibles were associated with Binance’s platform, strategically leveraging Ronaldo’s immense popularity to attract new users. Apart from Ronaldo, Binance also partnered with three other star football players.
Cooking something up with @binance https://t.co/FMAP5GAdxE
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) November 28, 2023
This lawsuit was filed against Ronaldo because of one user’s complaint as per his statement, the individuals who registered for Ronaldo’s NFTs on Binance were more inclined to use the platform for other activities, such as investing in what they argue are unregistered securities, including Binance’s BNB and its crypto yield programs.
“Ronaldo’s promotions solicited or assisted Binance in soliciting investments in unregistered securities by encouraging his millions of followers, fans, and supporters to invest with the Binance platform.”
Ronaldo’s influence and Binance’s growth
The lawsuit claims that Ronaldo’s massive influence, because of his significant 850 million followers across social media platforms, was a driving force behind Binance’s incredible growth. The complaint alleges that Ronaldo’s NFT sales successfully promoted the exchange, resulting in a remarkable 500% surge in searches for “Binance” in the week following the initial sale.
The lawsuit alleges that Cristiano Ronaldo knew or should have known about Binance selling unregistered crypto securities, given his investment experience and substantial resources to obtain outside advisers.
The complaint cites guidance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), emphasizing the obligation for celebrities to disclose payments received for promoting cryptocurrencies. According to the lawsuit, Ronaldo failed to make such disclosures.
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