21/08/2024 Shaquille O'Neal Will Have to Defend Some of the Allegations in the Astrals NFT Class Action Suit

The court did not dismiss the allegation that Astrals sold tokens which were unregistered "securities."

A U.S. court has granted one part and dismissed another part of a class action lawsuit against legendary basketball player Shaquille O'Neal for his role in the NFT project Astrals, according to court documents filed on Friday.

Astrals was a project involving a collection of 10,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) 3D avatars and a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) for "incubating innovative projects." Astral NFTs could be used as virtual avatars and the Galaxy token was the governance token of the DAO.

The case alleged that O'Neal acted as the face of Astrals urging investors to "[h]op on the wave before its too late." Even when cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed in November 2022, O'Neal sent out a graphics interchange format (GIF) on the community message board Discord, from The Wolf of Wall Street that read, "I'm not F***ing Leaving," the court document said. The lawsuit alleged that O'Neal fled the project after that and "the value of Astrals financial products plummeted."

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division, dismissed the allegation that O'Neal was a "control person," meaning someone who exercised actual power or control.

However, the court found that O'Neal's involvement in the project falls under the definition of a "seller" because he successfully solicited the purchase of the products, despite O'Neals argument that he was not an officer or director of the company.

The court did not dismiss the allegation that Astrals sold tokens which were unregistered "securities."

The attorney for the investors in the lawsuit,Adam Moskowitz, who also represents investors in the FTX, Voyager and Binance lawsuits, suggested that this ruling could bring clarity in other pending crypto class action litigations.

“We are extremely fortunate that District Judge Moreno authored the first extensive ruling on cryptocurrency and celebrity promotions ... bringing clarity and understanding in all of the other crypto class actions litigation, many are pending in this District.

O'Neal and the Astral project are supposed to reply to the allegations by September 12, 2024.

CoinDesk has been unable to reach O’Neal for comment.

Edited by Parikshit Mishra.

Arts

shaquille-o039neal-will-have-to-defend-some-of-the-allegations-in-the-astrals-nft-class-action-suit

Interesting NFTs
Genesis
José Delbo sent me his striking pencil sketch and powerful inked work, which I then interpreted in oil on canvas. I wanted to create a very painterly piece with obvious brush marks etc, but I was also aiming for a nostalgic feel, a kind of 1980’s superhero comic book look, the kind I grew up with. My goal with this animation was to try to recreate, in part, the creative process that both artists went through with the visual information I had. I was able to showcase my painting process more accurately as I could take photographs of my progress throughout. Consecutive images could then be layered like brush strokes over José’s drawing to create the impression that this was one continuous artwork from pencil, to ink, to completed painting. The representation of the line sketch at the beginning, then pencil/ink and lastly the paint layers being applied demonstrate both artists’ struggle for the right lines, tone, form, and colour until the work is finally completed. As the oil was still wet with each photograph the glare of my studio lights can be seen in the brush strokes. Eventually, the figure emerges and as it does, our hero comes to life, looking directly at the viewer -- but is he grimacing in approval or disgust? We will never know for sure as just before he can say anything, white paint is brushed across the canvas entirely and the process begins again. Only the bat is quick enough to escape.
Усик
What's up! I'm Усик. My friends describe me as voluptuous and hairy. I would give it all up to be on Oprah. I can't wait to wake you up at 4am for seemingly no reason.
CryptoPunk 5577
By C352B5
Lim Hedra #1/20
⏣
#15093
By OthersideDeployer