The US Securities and Exchange Commission previously noted that federal law requires celebrities to publicly disclose how much they are paid to promote securities, including crypto assets. The suit also alleges that Ronaldo should have disclosed how much Binance has paid him for the partnership.
The collection’s premium-level NFTs sold out within the first week, the suit claims. The suit said the promotional efforts of Ronaldo’s Binance partnership were “incredibly successful” – alleging a 500% increase in online searches using the keyword “Binance” after the footballer’s NFTs were announced. The NFTs – which had starting prices ranging from the equivalent of about $US77 to $US10,000 – featured seven animated statues depicting Ronaldo from various moments in his life.
Ronaldo launched his inaugural NFT “CR7” collection with Binance in November last year, ahead of the 2022 World Cup. Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, did not immediately return requests for comment from the Associated Press. Representatives for the Portuguese star, now playing in Saudi Arabia for Al-Nassr, declined to comment on Thursday.
