Famous NBA star and sports commentator Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to a settlement fund for investors in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of Astrals. This NBA legend has also settled claims in a separate FTX lawsuit and is awaiting court approval.
On May 23, O’Neal was served papers for the Astral NFT lawsuit during an NBA game at the Kaseya Center, formerly known as FTX Arena. This class-action lawsuit relates to the star promoting the Astrals NFT project.
On August 16, a federal judge in Miami acknowledged that the plaintiffs correctly alleged that the former NBA star was the seller of these NFTs. This means that the sports commentator needs to respond to this.
After a year of controversy, O’Neal signed an $11 million settlement fund to resolve the claims of Astrals NFT investors. The NBA commentator agreed to this settlement in exchange for the dismissal of the class-action lawsuit.
Users buy Astrals NFTs because O’Neal promotes them
The Astrals NFT collection includes 10K digital collectibles created by artist Damien Guimoneau. These NFTs promote a virtual world where users can communicate and play together, including the basketball star.
The plaintiffs claim that the Astrals assets are linked to O’Neal’s fame, and many investors participated because the star promoted the NFTs. Although O’Neal states that he is not leaving the project, the plaintiffs believe that the NBA star is trying to distance himself from the project.
Subsequently, the value of the NFTs plummeted, causing financial losses for investors. For this reason, NFT investors filed a lawsuit against O’Neal in September 2023.
NFT sales continue their momentum
O’Neal's deal comes at a time when the NFT market is recovering in sales volume. In October, the monthly sales volume of NFTs broke a seven-month decline. The monthly sales volume of NFTs reached $356 million, an 18% increase from September, the lowest month of the year 2024. Transactions also showed a 42% increase from the previous month, reaching 7.2 million transactions.
In the week leading up to November 17, NFT sales increased by 94%. The digital collectibles market recorded sales of $181 million, driven by gains from Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market. This surge in volume was due to increased transactions on leading NFT blockchains such as Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Solana.
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