Sebastian Sinclair

NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal has finally been served by lawyers representing investors in a class-action lawsuit against FTX celebrity endorsers.



O’Neal was handed official legal documents outside his Texas residence at 4pm local time on Sunday. Adam Moskowitz, managing partner and class-action co-counsel at The Moskowitz Law Firm, confirmed the serving to Blockworks in an email.



“The good news is his home video cameras recorded our service and we made it very clear that he is not to destroy and/or erase any of these security tapes because they must be preserved for our lawsuit,” he said.



As of last week, O’Neal was the last remaining defendant named in the suit to be served. O’Neal joins Tom Brady, Larry David, Gisele Bündchen, Stephen Curry and Kevin O’Leary, among others.



The development ends a three-month hunt to serve the former basketball superstar over his role in endorsing the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-new-management-findings" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">now-defunct crypto exchange</a> FTX.



FTX pushed sweeping marketing campaigns, including Super Bowl ads, celebrity endorsements and naming rights to the Miami Heat’s arena. Some promotions reportedly promised investors greater returns than a typical deposit account.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">And oh yeah, 🏈 + <a href="https://twitter.com/SHAQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SHAQ</a> <a href="https://t.co/QlZpvMfnCp">pic.twitter.com/QlZpvMfnCp</a>&mdash; FTX (@FTX_Official) <a href="https://twitter.com/FTX_Official/status/1492368625830871040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Shaquille O&#8217;Neal still lives on FTX&#8217;s Twitter timeline</figcaption></figure>



The lawsuit was filed by a retail investor on behalf of other FTX users who’d been influenced to use the platform by celebrities. O’Neal’s “FTX: I Am All In” commercial, cited by Garrison, was created by New York advertising agency Dentsu McGarrybowen and global partnership firm Wasserman.



FTX filed for bankruptcy last November following an $8-billion wave of withdrawals, which quickly led to allegations of severe mismanagement and fraud. Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sam-bankman-fried-issues-not-guilty-plea" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pleaded not guilty</a> to federal charges and awaits trial later this year, while close associates have <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-alameda-execs-plead-guilty-to-fraud-released-on-bail" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">struck plea deals</a> to cooperate with the US government.



Lawyers had until Monday to hand over official legal documents to O’Neal after Judge Michael Moore, presiding, issued a deadline after denying a request to serve the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/shaquille-oneal-ftx-lawsuit-not-served" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">celebrity via Twitter</a>.



“We took Judge Moore’s instructions very seriously and are glad to finally end this silly sideshow,” Moskowitz said. Blockworks attempted to contact O’Neal via his philanthropy website but did not immediately receive a response.



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Shaquille O’Neal Served in FTX Case, Ending 3-Month ‘Sideshow’

Richard Mico

The recent burst of legal action brought against celebrities over the promotion of various crypto assets underscores just how bewildering the regulatory environment for this transformative technology has become in the United States.&nbsp;



How can anyone engage with crypto with any degree of confidence when the CFTC throws its weight around in one direction as the SEC, along with other agencies, make moves in seemingly contradictory directions? Clearly, the regulators are fighting something of a turf war, and everyone else, celebrities included, is left scratching heads.&nbsp;



Before I go any further, let me be clear. This is not a blanket defense of celebrity endorsements of whatever coin or NFT project. Our industry certainly has been plagued by influencer-peddled pump-and-dump scams that have hurt retail investors. This fact is undeniable, and my colleagues and I welcome fair and rigorous regulatory oversight. And I should emphasize that it’s undoubtedly critical that to ensure protection of investors, celebrities should be transparent and in turn disclose any material connections when it comes to endorsements, including compensation received.



But the sheer lack of inter-agency consensus over crypto assets doesn’t seem to be doing much to help protect investors from scams. It’s mostly just raising questions, namely: Who’s actually in charge?&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">If it looks like a security, but it talks like a commodity</h2>



The fines imposed by the SEC against, among others, Lindsay Lohan, Akon and Kim Kardashian have largely centered on the purported failure to properly disclose payments received for crypto endorsements.&nbsp;



In a <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-183">release in October</a> explaining the agency’s $1.26 million fine against Kardashian over promoting a rather obscure coin, Chair Gary Gensler argued that penalizing her over non-compliance with the law served “as a reminder to celebrities and others that the law requires them to disclose to the public when and how much they are paid to promote investing in securities.”



There could be some merit to the SEC’s arguments, but a critical word used by Gensler is “securities.” Are crypto assets actually securities as defined by the law? Or are they something else and outside of the jurisdiction of the SEC, such as commodities, which is the classification that the CFTC seems to favor? For example, in its recent legal action against Binance, the CFTC seems to have defied the SEC by arguing ether, litecoin and stablecoins including USDT and BUSD are in fact commodities. Yet the SEC has declared the BUSD stablecoin as an unregistered security and has hinted that it considers ether to be the same.&nbsp;



There are nuances between the SEC and CFTC pertaining to endorsements, as well as with the Federal Trade Commission. Specifically, the nuances involve potential irregularities surrounding what constitutes an endorsement, what disclosure is required, legal liability and enforcement action.&nbsp;



Parsing through the various legal interpretations and penalties that could potentially be imposed in these situations is hard enough, but it’s headache-inducing when the agencies involved can’t seem to come to agreement on how to actually classify crypto in the first place.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Welcome to regulatory limbo</h2>



Globally, crypto is popular – not just among those living in countries with failing currencies and weak or non-existent banking systems, but also among young and tech-savvy audiences. It therefore makes sense that celebrities would seek to engage those audiences through something popular and highly useful like crypto.



More broadly, the crypto industry itself is more than just confused. We’re becoming rather concerned. Increasingly, there is suspicion that US authorities are deliberately and unlawfully attempting to snuff out the crypto industry in what’s been dubbed <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/news/operation-choke-point-2-0/">Operation Chokepoint 2.0</a>. Many argue that as a result of the latter operation, crypto-friendly banks and crypto ventures themselves have been unfairly – or even unlawfully – targeted.&nbsp;



I’ll hold off on providing an opinion on whether Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is real or not – and whether the associated actions are actually lawful – but it certainly seems as though those like Lohan and Kardashian appear to have been caught up with the rest of us in the regulatory crossfire.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Pack your bags</h2>



Many of us in the crypto industry have long been willing to work with regulators and lawmakers to help formulate robust investor-protection laws, including technology-focused solutions that provide safeguards surrounding advertising and promotions.



But while our industry is more than ready to work diligently and in good faith with authorities to formulate safeguards, ultimately what’s needed is an overarching regulatory framework that clearly spells out the rules of the road. This would reinforce the rule of law in the United States and dampen the suspicion that authorities may be adopting unconstitutional means to stifle our industry.&nbsp;



If Washington’s end game is to crush the domestic crypto industry, then related startups and entrepreneurs will simply move abroad, thereby depriving Americans of the immense potential benefits of fostering Web3 and financial innovation at home. Already, it seems as though crypto-friendly jurisdictions are capitalizing on this situation, with Hong Kong and Dubai, along with the UK and the EU, opening their arms to American crypto innovators.&nbsp;



Whether celebrities will begin focusing their crypto-promotional activities abroad, joining what I fear will be a wave of industry startups decamping to other countries, is anyone’s guess.



But if there’s money to be made by advertising in our industry abroad — in a different regulatory environment that can actually give you yes or no answers — then don’t be surprised when you see more and more billboards popping up in Hong Kong or London showcasing your favorite singer or actor touting blockchains and exchanges, footloose and fancy free.&nbsp;



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<div class="wp-block-post-author-biography">Richard Mico is the U.S. CEO and Chief Legal Officer of Banxa, a payment-and-compliance infrastructure provider to the global crypto industry. Prior to his role with Banxa, Richard worked with Lloyds Banking Group and Western Union Business Solutions. Throughout his career, Richard has helped to launch numerous products, including Ireland’s first buy now, pay later product and the world’s first buy now, pay later product on an open-looped digital card.</div>


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Gary Gensler: Stop Taking Out Your Crypto Problems on Celebrities

Ornella Hernandez

<div id="highlights-block_62fe10b98bab9" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>“Nine out of 10 celebrities, if they were to do an NFT release today, would fail,” said co-founder of ArtGrails, Avery Andon, brother of Graffiti artist Alec Monopoly</li>
 <li>Celebs should ask themselves if they’re getting paid to promote NFTs, marketing exec warns</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Moonpay, a crypto payments provider, runs a celebrity crypto concierge service to help the rich and famous acquire NFTs and other digital assets without getting their hands dirty.



But when public figures endorse crypto projects with tokens whose prices pump and tank, it not only seems shady, it’s potentially illegal.



MoonPay’s client roster includes Hilton, actress <a href="https://twitter.com/GwynethPaltrow/status/1486482496883625984?s=20&amp;t=UvZMjFLBQkPe_ZeztYveNw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gwyneth Paltrow</a>, artist <a href="https://www.moonpay.com/blog/post-malone" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Post Malone</a>, Madonna and others. Essentially, the company is working with the idea that NFTs are the “future of consumer engagement,” said Moonpay spokesperson Justin Hamilton.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“For major holders of intellectual property — celebrities, musicians, entertainers and athletes — the way that they are going to use this technology will be disconnected from market trading realities,” he said.</blockquote>



That may be true in theory, but there’s a reason crypto companies and projects seek to tie their brands to familiar and popular faces.



As bitcoin was retreating from dizzying record highs last December, Actor Matt Damon <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-com-cmo-on-how-company-went-from-app-to-global-brand/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">appeared</a> in a buzzy Crypto.com advertisement during the Super Bowl and said, “fortune favors the brave.”



A few months earlier, with the crypto bull market in full swing, film star Reese Witherspoon in a now-deleted <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210903001403/https://twitter.com/reesew/status/1433524984723349507" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">post</a> tweeted: &#8220;Just bought my first ETH! Let’s do this<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210903012125/https://twitter.com/hashtag/cryptotwitter?src=hash" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> #cryptotwitter</a>.&#8221; ETH was worth almost $3,900 at the time and now trades for half that. Witherspoon also touted a World of Women NFT.



Earlier still, NFL legend Tom Brady founded his own NFT (non-fungible token) marketplace, Autograph. And like Damon, Brady also marketed a crypto exchange, FTX, alongside his wife, model Giselle Bündchen.&nbsp;



Heiress Paris Hilton then <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zi12wrh5So" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dubbed</a> herself “The Queen of the Metaverse” in January after hosting DJ events in Roblox, bagging blue chip NFTs such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, and even creating her own.



The same thing happened during the mania of the last cycle, when Katy Perry <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BeXchJzFkhJ/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">debuted</a> her “crypto claws” on Instagram — nails emblazoned with digital asset logos including bitcoin, ether and litecoin.



Despite the unfortunate timing of these endorsements, and whether the celebrities truly believe in — or even understand — crypto, their clout helped lend mainstream legitimacy to the industry.



“They know that they&#8217;re constantly going to have to push the envelope to invent new ways to create community, to create buy-in, to create loyalty,” said Hamilton. “Many of them think that NFT technologies will be the way to do that.”&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Effects of the bear market&nbsp;</h3>



Despite the market downturn, rapper Snoop Dogg <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/28/snoop-dogg-on-crypto-winter-and-the-future-of-nfts.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a> CNBC that the crypto winter &#8220;weeded out all the people who weren&#8217;t supposed to be in the space and who were abusing the opportunities that were there,&#8221; during the NFT.NYC conference in June.



MoonPay <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/moonpay-primes-nft-minting-service-hypermint/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launched</a> HyperMint during the same event, an NFT distribution platform that’s already worked with Universal Pictures and street artist Alec Monopoly.



Monopoly — born Alec Andon — and his brother and manager, Avery Andon, are planning their own concierge-like platform for high-profiles and celebrities who want to foster NFT communities. When asked what he thinks about celebrities jumping in during crypto winter, Andon said:



“There was that moment in the beginning when a couple of celebrities got lucky and made big bucks off of cash grab releases. But I genuinely think those days are done,” he said, pointing to singer Chris Brown’s recent attempt.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“Nine out of 10 celebrities, if they were to do an NFT release today, would fail,” Andon said.</blockquote>



Brown released the Breezyverse collection of 3D animated Brown avatars at the start of July. Only 350 people have bought into the set of 10,000, as seen on OpenSea at the time of publication. Less than 13 ETH ($23,600) has been spent in total.



Web3 enthusiasts “really expect you to be an active member of their community and to really give a part of yourself for the project,” for example through weekly AMA chats or Instagram live chats, according to Andon.



“I think that it&#8217;s just such an in depth, exhaustive [process] that a real, true NFT project requires that most celebrities are not willing to make that commitment,” he added.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Marketing crypto tastefully is still possible</h3>



Geoff Renaud, chief marketing officer of the marketing agency Invisible North, echoed that sentiment.&nbsp;



“You see a lot of love and support from the Web3 community when people come for the right reasons, and the claws come out when endorsements are insincere, [Damon’s] Crypto.com ad being probably the most famous example,” Renaud said.



Still, he pointed to FTX’s “great job partnering with talent in creative and authentic ways. FTX “brilliantly cast” Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David in its own Super Bowl commercial.



FTX leveraged David’s trademark indifference to undersell crypto, unlike Crypto.com’s bullish narrative, and practically the opposite of Kim Karashian’s basic Instagram <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2021/10/ben-mckenzie-crypto-celebrities-kardashian-brady-lohan.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">advertisement</a> for SafeMoon rip-off EthereumMAX, which is now almost worthless.



“[FTX] made their athlete partners like Tom Brady and Steph Curry stakeholders in the company. The partnerships are always ‘on,’ and the athletes seem personally engaged, which is really rare,” Renaud said.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Celebs must ask themselves if they’re getting paid to promote NFTs</h3>



In any case, Renaud advised public figures to stay cautious about what they&#8217;re promoting. Referencing the ICO (initial coin offering) “craze” of 2017 and 2018, Renaud noted there’s still ongoing litigation over “empty celebrity promotions” from that era.



Most recently, the law firm Scott+Scott claimed that Bored Ape Yacht Club creators Yuga Labs used celebrity promoters and endorsements to inflate the price of its NFTs by overpromising high returns. Yuga Labs <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/yuga-labs-faces-potential-class-action-lawsuit-over-inflated-bayc-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">could face</a> a class action lawsuit.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“It&#8217;s a real shame that you can be dragged into a lawsuit just because you&#8217;re excited about a piece of digital art that you own,” Renaud said.</blockquote>



Kayvan Ghaffari, head of legal at NFT art marketplace MakersPlace, reasoned that it’s too soon to tell the exact regulatory implications, but public figures must ask themselves: “Am I receiving any sort of financial benefit from this NFT?”&nbsp;



“If the answer is yes, the FTC [Federal Trade Commission] will start to enforce the law,” Ghaffari said.&nbsp;&nbsp;



He added that federal agencies such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will emerge as primary NFT watchdogs.



19 celebrities have been warned by consumer watchdog group Truth in Advertising against shilling NFTs, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Tom Brady and many others <a href="https://truthinadvertising.org/industries/celebrities-promoting-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">were called out</a> for “a failure to clearly and conspicuously disclose the promoter’s material connection to the endorsed NFT company.”



There has been no official involvement from the FTC, yet.



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Celebrities Shilled Crypto at the Top. Can They Learn for Next Cycle?

Shalini Nagarajan

<div id="highlights-block_62a1aa8ae050e" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>&#8220;Silence of the Lambs&#8221; actor changes his Twitter handle to ENS name ‘AHopkins.eth’</li>
 <li>Critics suggest NFT interest has been shrinking, but data shows 183% jump in NFT marketplace collections from last year</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins is the latest celebrity to drop his Ethereum domain name on social media, joining a number of other public figures using their <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/what-is-the-ethereum-name-service-ens/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ethereum Name Service</a> as Twitter usernames.



On Wednesday, the 84-year-old Welsh actor changed <a href="https://twitter.com/AnthonyHopkins" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">his verified Twitter name</a> to a crypto wallet address, similar to a website URL or email address.



This naming system, based on the Ethereum blockchain, is similar to the Domain Name Service that matches IP addresses to simple website names. In Hopkins’ case, it turns his complex wallet address “0x5b4b7f43140e79a4452408ce10dd64fd17d8a2e5” into the easily readable “<a href="https://app.zerion.io/0x5b4b7f43140e79a4452408ce10dd64fd17d8a2e5/overview" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AHopkins.eth</a>.”



It isn’t the first time Hopkins has displayed an interest in Web3. His latest sci-fi movie “Zero Contact” was the first feature film to be distributed as a NFT late last year, skipping the traditional theater release route.



In addition to his Twitter handle update, Hopkins <a href="https://twitter.com/AnthonyHopkins/status/1534576219458375680" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">asked</a> fellow celebrities Snoop Dogg, Jimmy Fallon and Reese Witherspoon for recommendations on which NFT (non-fungible token) he should snap up.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">I’m astonished by all the great NFT artists. Jumping in to acquire my first piece, any recommendations? <a href="https://twitter.com/SnoopDogg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SnoopDogg</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmyfallon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JimmyFallon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ReeseW?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ReeseW</a> <a href="https://t.co/pjeP8dVNfD">pic.twitter.com/pjeP8dVNfD</a>&mdash; AHopkins.eth (@AnthonyHopkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnthonyHopkins/status/1534576219458375680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Fallon responded: “There [are] a bunch of great artists out there, and it’s a fun community in general. But, as the great Aaron Neville once said, ‘I don’t know much — but I know I love you.’ And that may be all you need to know. DM me.”



The TV host and comedian is an NFT owner in popular collections including the <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmyfallon/status/1459164143626424321?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bored Ape Yacht Club</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmyfallon/status/1522723486778679296" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Moonbirds</a>. Rapper Snoop Dogg is <a href="https://twitter.com/Blockworks_/status/1533397830718697473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">opening</a> a Bored Ape NFT-themed dessert restaurant in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Witherspoon is a Web3 champion whose media company Hello Sunshine is <a href="https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/reese-witherspoon-nfts" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">partnering</a> with NFT collective World of Women for films and TV shows.



An NFT is a unique cryptoasset with a digital fingerprint that cannot be replicated, meaning that it can’t be replaced by another such token. Just like the authentic &#8220;Starry Night&#8221; painting by Van Gogh can’t be swapped with a duplicate, you can’t clone an NFT.



Suggestions have been floating that the NFT space is waning following a record-breaking growth in 2021, but recent data dispels that notion.



According to <a href="https://cryptomonday.de/news/2022/05/23/the-daily-average-amount-collectors-sent-to-nft-marketplaces-has-grown-by-183percent-in-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CryptoMonday.de</a>, collectors sent $37 billion to NFT marketplaces in the first quarter of 2022 — that’s a 183% jump from 2021, or nearly $308 million in daily remittances. In 2021, collectors sent $40 billion, or roughly $109 million in average daily payments, to NFT marketplaces.



Another study by <a href="https://www.los-muertos.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Los Muertos</a> found California nabbed the top spot as the most NFT-obsessed state, with data showing the term “NFT” was the most searched there than in any other state in the past year. This high ranking could be attributed to the number of celebrity endorsements of NFTs, experts said.



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