Shaquille O’Neal faces yet another crypto lawsuit to promote Astral’s NFT project

Quick take:

• Shaquille O’Neal has been sued for his involvement in Astral’s NFT project.
• The former NBA star has been named in a class action lawsuit that claims he violated securities laws to sell unregistered Astrals tokens.
• O’Neal was previously named in another lawsuit against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried for endorsing the crypto exchange platform.

Shaquille O’Neal can’t shake off the long arm of the law as he faces yet another lawsuit. The former NBA star has been named in a crypto lawsuit related to his NFT project Astrals.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the proposed class action alleges that O’Neal violated securities laws by selling unregistered Astrals tokens. According to investor Daniel Harper, the former NBA star should have been fully informed about regulatory issues related to the sale of unregistered crypto assets.

Harper alleges that O’Neal neglected the legal implications of the situation, promoting the project to build his crypto empire.

O’Neal launched the Astrals NFT project in 2022 with music executive Brian Bayati as CEO and son Myles O’Neal as head of investor relations. The project offered an immersive world where it promoted investments to a community of users and a marketplace where they could trade 3D avatars as NFTs, the plaintiff said in the lawsuit.

Astrals also allowed investors to purchase the NFTs from Astrals official token marketplace.

O’Neal produced a series of NFTs called the “Shaq Signature Pass”, of which he claimed only 50 would ever exist, with collectors able to earn them only by participating in the community or purchasing using Astral tokens.

“The Shaq Signature Pass is the first consumable NFT of its kind, and the signature technology is one that we believe will have a wide range of applications,” said a campaign detailing the limited-edition NFT series.

The former Lakers star reportedly ran the promotional campaign across social media accounts, urging investors to “jump on the bandwagon before it’s too late,” in one of the posts.

This is not the first time O’Neal has crossed paths with the law. In November 2022, he was named along with several celebrities in a class action lawsuit filed against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried for supporting the collapsed crypto exchange platform.

However, O’Neal has since distanced himself from the company, stating in December that despite appearing in some FTX ads, he was “just a paid spokesperson.”

The US capital markets regulator has recently tightened the noose on crypto projects following the collapse of FTX, taking extra measures to protect unsuspecting investors from traps laid by actors who use influencers for their promo campaigns.

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