Cristiano Ronaldo faces $1 billion lawsuit for advertising cryptocurrencies

Cristiano Ronaldo, current Al-Nasser player, has been sued for more than $1 billion for associating with Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange company. As reported by the BBC, those affected have stated that the support of the Portuguese star led them to make investments that generated losses.

In November 2022, Binance announced its first ‘CR7’ collection of NFTs (a non-fungible token) in partnership with Ronaldo, which the footballer said would reward fans “for all the years of support.” NFTs are virtual assets that can be bought and sold, but do not have a form of their own in the real world, that is, they only exist digitally. In a video on social media announcing the partnership, Ronaldo told potential investors “we are going to change the NFT game and take football to the next level.”

However, Ronaldo NFTs dropped considerably in value in less than a year, going from selling for $77 the cheapest to being exchanged for just one dollar. The complaint comes from a Florida court and accuses the Portuguese soccer player of having “promoted, assisted and/or participated in the purchase and sale of unregistered securities in coordination with Binance.” In addition, the lawsuit adds that the former Real Madrid, Juve and Manchester United footballer should have been aware that “Binance was selling crypto-securities” since the Portuguese has “investment experience and extensive resources to obtain advisors.” Additionally, Ronaldo and Binance have plans to continue working together in the future as a post by the footballer on social media says they are “preparing something.”

The plaintiffs allege that Ronaldo’s promotion of Binance caused a “500% increase in searches” for the crypto exchange, which is registered in the Cayman Islands. Additionally, these ads led people to use the company to invest in what they call “unregistered securities,” such as Binance’s BNB cryptocurrency.

According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), these assets can be considered securities and, therefore, celebrities who endorse them must comply with US law. Gary Gensler, chairman of the SEC, said celebrities must “disclose to the public who and how much they are paid to promote investment in securities.” “When celebrities endorse investment opportunities, including crypto asset securities, investors should be careful to investigate whether the investments are right for them, and they should know why celebrities are endorsing those opportunities,” he continued.

In this sense, the plaintiffs allege that Ronaldo should have revealed how much he was paid, but did not do so. For his part, Nigel Green, head of consultancy DeVere Group, said the case goes beyond the footballer: “Attention should also be directed to global regulators who have been slow to establish clear guidelines for this evolving financial landscape.”