The iconic football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a lawsuit filed in a Florida District Court on November 27, 2023, for promoting Binance. The plaintiffs, Michael Sizemore, Mikey Vongdara, and Gordon Lewis, claim they suffered losses because Ronaldo promoted the exchange. The platform is accused of not undertaking proper anti-money laundering measures. Moreover, the exchange was recently asked to pay US authorities $4.3 billion in settlements.
As per the filing, Ronaldo “promoted, assisted in, and/or actively participated in the offer and sale of unregistered securities in coordination with Binance.”
Cristiano Ronaldo entered a multi-year partnership with the exchange in mid-2022. As per the partnership, Ronaldo would promote a series of his own NFTS (Non-Fungible Tokens). Additionally, as per the filing, users who signed up for the NFT collection claim they were more likely to use the exchange for other purposes, such as buying unregistered securities. The unregistered securities include the BNB token and the exchange’s yield programs.
The filing states, “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.”
As per the lawsuit, Ronaldo allegedly knew or should have known about “Binance selling unregistered crypto securities.” Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that the footballer has “investment experience and vast resources to obtain outside advisers.”
Moreover, the suit cited the SEC’s (Securities and Exchange Commission) warning to celebrities regarding disclosing payments received for promoting cryptocurrencies. The plaintiffs claim that Ronaldo did not disclose payments received from Binance.
Ronaldo’s lawsuit is the latest turn in the Binance saga. The platform’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), recently pleaded guilty to money-laundering charges and agreed to step down as the company’s head.
