Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo is being sued over his endorsement of Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world.
The claimants have sought reparations of “a sum over” $1 billion, or £790 million.
According to the accusation, Ronaldo assisted Binance in the offer and sale of securities that were not registered.
In 2022, the football player and Binance partnered to promote the footballer’s non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which were linked to the exchange.
It’s said that those who enrolled for Ronaldo’s NFTs are more inclined to use the exchange for other things, such buying unregistered stocks.
According to the lawsuit, Binance’s sale of unregistered cryptocurrency assets should have been known to Ronaldo given his wealth and competence in investing.
Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, has entered a guilty plea to charges of allowing the international cryptocurrency exchange to neglect to keep up a strong anti-money laundering initiative.
Binance faced allegations of breaching laws pertaining to anti-money laundering and sanctions, as well as neglecting to disclose any suspicious transactions involving entities categorised as terrorist organisations by the United States, including as Hamas, al Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Binance and Zhao consented to a plea agreement that included Binance paying over $4.3 billion and Zhao paying a $150 million fine to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
A US federal judge has ruled that Zhao cannot leave the country until his sentencing hearing in February, and he faces a maximum sentence of eighteen months in prison.