- Cristiano Ronaldo is requesting at least $1 billion in compensation for his part in the promotion of NFTs.
- In November of last year, Ronaldo made his debut with Binance’s first NFT CR7 collection.
- The collection’s premium-level NFTs allegedly sold out in the first week of sales, according to the lawsuit.
In a class-action lawsuit, Cristiano Ronaldo is requesting at least $1 billion in compensation for his part in the promotion of “non-fungible tokens” (NFTs) related to cryptocurrencies that were released by the struggling cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
According to the lawsuit, Ronaldo’s endorsement of Binance was “deceptive and unlawful,” causing investors to make risky and expensive investments.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The plaintiffs contend that only through the offer and sale of unregistered securities—along with the willing cooperation of some of the most affluent, influential, and well-known companies and celebrities worldwide, including Defendant Ronaldo—was Binance’s fraud able to reach such heights.
Ronaldo unveiled his inaugural NFT CR7 collection with Binance in November of last year, just in time for the 2022 World Cup. Seven animated statues that portrayed Ronaldo from significant life events, such as bicycle-kick goals and his early years in Portugal, were included in the NFTs.
The lawsuit filed on Monday asserts that the marketing campaign for Ronaldo’s partnership with Binance was “incredibly successful,” citing a 500% surge in internet searches for Binance following the news of the soccer player’s NFTs. In the first week of the collection, the lawsuit claims that all of the premium-level NFTs were sold out.
Ronaldo has persisted in endorsing Binance through his official website and various social media accounts. He most recently shared a Binance video on X, which was formerly Twitter.
NFTs saw a brief boom, but as the crypto industry has been tarnished by scandals and market collapses, their value has essentially collapsed.
