American basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal is facing a new lawsuit for promoting the Solana-based cryptocurrency project, Astrals.
Reports by the class action lawsuit filed with a Floridan court by plaintiff Daniel Harper, Shaquille shilled the Astrals crypto token through posts and videos on plenty of of his social media handles.
O’Neal Faces Lawsuit Over Astrals Project
Reports by the lawsuit, Astrals is a 3D-modeled Non-Fungible Token (NFT) collection established by the NBA celebrity alongside his son, Mylers O’Neal. Shaq’s son headed the role of “Investors Relations” while his music manager, Brian Bayati, acted as the project’s CEO.
Building on the Solana (SOL) network, Astrals seeks to onboard users into an ecological system that offers gaming and metaverse network experiences. These services are accessible through the Solana-based Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden.
Encouraging users to participate with Astrals’ native digital currency, the project launched the Shaq Signature Pass as an exclusive 50-piece collection of Non-Fungible Token (NFTs). These collectibles can only be claimed with the native token.
Harper’s lawsuit, which asserts that Astrals crypto tokens are unregistered securities, implies that the assets will be subjected to the Howey test. This is a process used to determine whether a digital currency (or any other type of asset) falls under the category of safety or an financing contract.
If the Astrals crypto token passes the Howey test, it will be classified as a security and must be registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As a result, the SEC will likely take legal action against Astrals and its executives, demanding a settlement.
Not the First
Since joining the industry, O’Neal has found himself in plenty of crypto-related lawsuit cases. Earlier these 30 days, he was involved in a court case regarding the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
After being summoned to the court regarding his interaction with FTX Trading Ltd, the NBA celebrity indicated that the notice was inadequate, as it was tossed at his moving car and not served at his home.
