{"id":21388,"date":"2025-04-09T20:02:30","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T20:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=21388"},"modified":"2025-04-09T20:02:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T20:02:30","slug":"nft-drama-ends-for-shaquille-oneal-with-hefty-11-million-settlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=21388","title":{"rendered":"NFT Drama Ends For Shaquille O\u2019Neal With Hefty $11 Million Settlement"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

NBA legend Shaquille O\u2019Neal has agreed to pay $11 million to settle a class-action lawsuit<\/a> over his promotion of the failed Astrals NFT project. A Florida federal judge approved the settlement on April 1, with the order becoming public just this week on April 8, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

Basketball Icon Caught In Crypto Controversy<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The lawsuit, first filed in May 2023, claimed O\u2019Neal promoted the sale of unregistered securities through the Solana-based Astrals NFT collection. <\/a>Investors who bought Astrals NFTs or the project\u2019s GLXY tokens between May 2022 and January 15, 2024, will now be eligible for compensation from the settlement fund.<\/p>\n

Judge Federico Moreno previously acknowledged that plaintiffs had made a plausible case that the former NBA star acted as a seller under securities law. The settlement comes after months of legal back-and-forth, with O\u2019Neal reaching an agreement with plaintiffs last November.<\/p>\n

\n

The next shot \u2013 Shaquille O\u2019Neal and #Astrals<\/a> NFTs + $GLXY<\/a> tokens.<\/p>\n

Shaq actively promoted the tokens, calling himself \u201cAstrals Chief Astronaut.\u201d But after the FTX collapse in November 2022, the project\u2019s reputation took a hit, and token sales slowed significantly.$GLXY<\/a> is down\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/quHziiGCdA<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 11th.com (@11thestate) March 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Lawyers Take Home $2.9 Million Slice<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The court approved $2.9 million in attorney fees and related costs as part of the settlement package. Judge Moreno ruled these fees were \u201cfair and reasonable,\u201d and noted that none of the plaintiffs objected to the amount lawyers would receive.<\/p>\n

The lawyers were able to convince the court that investors lost their money because of O\u2019Neal\u2019s marketing campaigns for the project.<\/p>\n

Court papers indicate that O\u2019Neal urged potential investors to \u201chop on the wave before it\u2019s too late,\u201d something that came to haunt him in court.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Failed Project Promised Virtual Meetings With Shaq<\/strong><\/p>\n

Astrals were released in April 2022, providing 10,000 one-of-a-kind 3D avatars designed by artist Damien Guimoneau. The venture presented itself as a fully immersive metaverse experience through which users would be able to interact with other users as well as with O\u2019Neal himself.<\/p>\n

Despite the star power behind it, the collection has shown zero signs of activity over the past two years based on data from NFT marketplace OpenSea.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neal reportedly continued to support the project publicly even after the major cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed in November 2022.<\/p>\n

The court did throw O\u2019Neal one small victory, dismissing claims that he was a \u201ccontrol person\u201d within the project\u2014a designation that would have suggested he held actual power over its operations rather than just serving as its famous face.<\/p>\n

\n

Shaquille O\u2019Neal to Face Legal Action Over Astrals NFT Project and FTX Involvement
\nTLDR<\/p>\n

Shaquille O\u2019Neal faces a class action lawsuit over his involvement in the Astrals NFT project<\/p>\n

The court dismissed allegations that O\u2019Neal was a \u201ccontrol person\u201d but found he could be cons\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/tslw52EwOw<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \"\ud83d\uded1\" BREAKING NEWS \"\ud83d\uded1\"\"\ud83d\udce2\"\"\ud83d\udd14\"\"\u26a0\"\"\ud83d\udca5\"\"\u2757\"\"\ud83d\udcac\" (@NotAnotherTip) August 19, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

NFT Market Continues Downward Spiral<\/strong><\/p>\n

The settlement comes as the broader NFT market struggles<\/a> to regain its former glory. Total NFT sales volume stood at just $27 million for the week ending April 7, 2025, a dramatic drop from the $2 billion-plus weekly volumes recorded during the market\u2019s peak in 2021.<\/p>\n

This downward trend has been ongoing, with trading volumes falling by more than 60% in February alone. The drop continues a slide that began in early 2024, suggesting the once-hot digital collectibles market remains in a prolonged slump.<\/p>\n

Featured image from Megan Briggs\/Getty, chart from TradingView <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NBA legend Shaquille O\u2019Neal has agreed to pay $11 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over his promotion of the failed Astrals NFT project. A Florida federal judge approved the settlement on April 1, with the order becoming public just this week on April 8, according to court documents. Basketball Icon Caught In Crypto Controversy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-21388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21388\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}