Shaquille O’Neal agrees to $11 million compensation in Solana NFT Lawsuit

Basketball great Shaquille O’Neal has consented to pay out $11 million as part of a settlement concerning a lawsuit filed by holders of the Astrals NFT collection.

The esteemed basketball player, Shaquille O’Neal, has settled accusations that he endorsed unregistered securities linked to the Astrals non-fungible token venture on the Solana blockchain. As the collection’s prominent celebrity figure, O’Neal leveraged his fame to attract funding for Astrals NFTs, as stated in legal documents.

O’Neal and related Astrals entities would provide $11 million in monetary relief as part of the proposed settlement to reimburse settlement class members and cover legal costs. It would essentially put an early end to O’Neal’s legal issues with the NFT, pending court approval.

Investors that bought NFTs from O’Neal’s Astrals project, which featured 10,000 Solana-based “metaverse-ready avatars,” or a governance token connected to the project’s DAO called GLXY, were the target of the alleged class-action lawsuit.

This settlement follows allegations that O’Neal promoted unregistered securities tied to the Astrals non-fungible token project on the Solana network.  O’Neal utilized his fame to draw investment toward Astrals NFTs as the collection’s main celebrity.

O’Neal famously posted the “I’m not f***ing leaving” Wolf of Wall Street meme on Astrals’ Discord, urging token holders to hold onto their holdings even though bankruptcies like FTX caused wider drops in virtual currencies and NFT markets

Astrals NFT investors sued O’Neal in a Florida district court as part of a class action lawsuit. The claims were pursued in court despite his efforts to avoid subpoenas and have the case dismissed. According to Miami District Judge Federico Moreno, Astrals NFTs were legally considered securities.

O’Neal had previously advocated for Galaxy, a decentralized autonomous organization token, which was also mentioned in the ruling. Judge Moreno’s approval is required for the $11 million settlement to become legally enforceable.  The money if approved will help investors pay for legal fees and recover losses.