Shaquille O’Neal, the legendary National Basketball Association (NBA) star, has received final court approval to settle his class-action lawsuit with the Astrals non-fungible token collection buyers for $11 million. O’Neal is one of many celebrities who previously promoted NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and other digital asset projects but faced significant liability under US securities laws.
O’Neal Fined $11M In Astrals NFT Lawsuit
On April 8, 2025, Federico A Moreno, a federal court judge in Florida, United States, finally granted the former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal a final court approval to settle a class-action lawsuit with the Astrals NFT buyers for $11 million. The settlement deal stipulates that legend O’Neal will pay $2.9 million in attorney fees and costs. He will also pay back all those who purchased the Astrals NFT collection from May 2022 to January 2023. Those who purchased the project’s native $GLXY tokens until January 2023 are also eligible.
👨⚖️ Shaquille O’Neal to Pay $11M in Final Settlement Over Astrals #NFT Lawsuit
Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to pay $11 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit tied to his involvement in the Astrals #NFT project.#crypto pic.twitter.com/Nz4J0rKDtF
— CryptOpus (@ImCryptOpus) April 9, 2025
The Astrals was a non-fungible token collection comprising a limited edition of 10,000 unique 3D digital items created in April 2022. The NFT project was made on the Solana blockchain network by the digital artist Damien Guimoneau and founded by Shaquille O’Neal. This Solana-based project promoted a virtual world where crypto users could socialize and play with others, including the basketball star.
The Astrals NFT collection crashed to zero in 2022 after the FTX collapse, which left the general non-fungible token market down over 30% from its initial 50% meltdown. In fury to the meltdown, the Astrals and Galaxy holders contracted Moskowitz Law Firm and filed a lawsuit against O’Neal. The NFT holders said they bought Astrals NFTs and “suffered massive investment losses” due to O’Neal’s “conduct” in promoting the project.
Other Celebrities Sued For Crypto Promotion
NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal is not the only celebrity, who has tasted the wrath of the United States Securities and exchange commission (SEC), for promoting unregistered securities. Other celebrities, including Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Steph Curry, Naomi Osaka, Shohei Otani, and Larry David, are also facing a reckoning for similar endorsements in a separate suit over the demise of crypto platform FTX.
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