NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to pay $11 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over his promotion of the failed Astrals NFT undertaking. A Florida federal decide accredited the settlement on April 1, with the order changing into public simply this week on April 8, in response to court docket paperwork.
Basketball Icon Caught In Crypto Controversy
The lawsuit, first filed in Could 2023, claimed O’Neal promoted the sale of unregistered securities by the Solana-based Astrals NFT collection. Traders who purchased Astrals NFTs or the undertaking’s GLXY tokens between Could 2022 and January 15, 2024, will now be eligible for compensation from the settlement fund.
Choose Federico Moreno beforehand acknowledged that plaintiffs had made a believable case that the previous NBA star acted as a vendor below securities regulation. The settlement comes after months of authorized back-and-forth, with O’Neal reaching an settlement with plaintiffs final November.
The subsequent shot – Shaquille O’Neal and #Astrals NFTs + $GLXY tokens.
Shaq actively promoted the tokens, calling himself “Astrals Chief Astronaut.” However after the FTX collapse in November 2022, the undertaking’s fame took a success, and token gross sales slowed considerably.$GLXY is down… pic.twitter.com/quHziiGCdA
— eleventh.com (@11thestate) March 28, 2025
Attorneys Take Dwelling $2.9 Million Slice
The court docket accredited $2.9 million in legal professional charges and associated prices as a part of the settlement bundle. Choose Moreno dominated these charges had been “honest and affordable,” and famous that not one of the plaintiffs objected to the quantity legal professionals would obtain.
The legal professionals had been in a position to persuade the court docket that buyers misplaced their cash due to O’Neal’s advertising campaigns for the undertaking.
Court docket papers point out that O’Neal urged potential buyers to “hop on the wave earlier than it’s too late,” one thing that got here to hang-out him in court docket.
Screenshot of court docket doc on Shaq's authorized settlement. Supply: Courtlistener
Failed Venture Promised Digital Conferences With Shaq
Astrals had been launched in April 2022, offering 10,000 one-of-a-kind 3D avatars designed by artist Damien Guimoneau. The enterprise offered itself as a completely immersive metaverse expertise by which customers would be capable of work together with different customers in addition to with O’Neal himself.
Regardless of the star energy behind it, the gathering has proven zero indicators of exercise over the previous two years based mostly on knowledge from NFT market OpenSea.
O’Neal reportedly continued to help the undertaking publicly even after the most important cryptocurrency change FTX collapsed in November 2022.
The court docket did throw O’Neal one small victory, dismissing claims that he was a “management particular person” throughout the undertaking—a designation that might have instructed he held precise energy over its operations somewhat than simply serving as its well-known face.
Shaquille O’Neal to Face Authorized Motion Over Astrals NFT Venture and FTX Involvement
TLDRShaquille O’Neal faces a category motion lawsuit over his involvement within the Astrals NFT undertaking
The court docket dismissed allegations that O’Neal was a “management particular person” however discovered he might be cons… pic.twitter.com/tslw52EwOw
— 🛑 BREAKING NEWS 🛑📢🔔⚠💥❗💬 (@NotAnotherTip) August 19, 2024
NFT Market Continues Downward Spiral
The settlement comes because the broader NFT market struggles to regain its former glory. Whole NFT gross sales quantity stood at simply $27 million for the week ending April 7, 2025, a dramatic drop from the $2 billion-plus weekly volumes recorded through the market’s peak in 2021.
This downward development has been ongoing, with buying and selling volumes falling by greater than 60% in February alone. The drop continues a slide that started in early 2024, suggesting the once-hot digital collectibles market stays in a protracted hunch.
Featured picture from Megan Briggs/Getty, chart from TradingView
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