Shaquille O’Neal settles $11 million lawsuit over promoting unregistered Astrals NFTs, addressing legal concerns about crypto regulations.

Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit for $11 million. The lawsuit involved his promotion of the Astrals NFT collection. The settlement was proposed on Monday in a Florida district court and is now awaiting approval from Judge Federico Moreno. If approved, the agreement will address allegations that O’Neal sold unregistered securities.

The legal proceedings started when O’Neal invested in the Solana-based Astrals NFT project. This year, in August, the case in Florida was partially dismissed of the class action lawsuit against the ex-NBA star. District Judge Federico Moreno dismissed O’Neal as a “control person” in the project. However, the judge permitted what could be claims that O’Neal had been acting as a promoter to go on.

According to the court papers, both Astrals and Galaxy tokens the plaintiffs had sold were unregistered securities. This implies that the plaintiffs in the case held this conviction that these assets were not well registered under the securities laws. They claimed that O’Neal may have violated the following laws in promoting these tokens.

Shaquille O’Neal Settles Lawsuit Over Promotion

The Astrals project was an NFT collection of 10,000 pieces by artist Damien Guimoneau. These NFTs enabled the users to have an interface on a platform and even communicate with Shaquille O’Neal. It also created Galaxy, the cryptocurrency that is linked to the Astrals NFTs. This cryptocurrency was implemented into the virtual world.

O’Neal was one of the most active promoters of the Astrals project. He used his popularity to get investors and create awareness about the NFTs and the Galaxy token. To popularize the project, he began performing as a DJ using Diesel on different occasions. At such occasions, the branding logos of the Astrals were used, and his role was stressed.

However, this settlement is a significant development in unravelling the legal questions concerning the Astrals NFTs. If the latter is approved, O’Neal will also have to provide $11 million to pay investors involved in the lawsuit. In addition, this case raises issues of the regulation of NFTs and cryptocurrencies. More precisely, it raises issues of whether these assets should be characterized as securities.

Last but not least, the settlement might influence other legal cases of the same nature in the future. As NFTs and cryptocurrencies continue to gain popularity, legal battles regarding their regulation will likely increase. This case underscores the need for clear guidelines in the rapidly evolving digital asset space.