Ronaldo Faces $1B Suit Over Endorsement of Binance

A year ago, soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo offered fans a deal that he said would reward them "for all the years of support." He had partnered with Binance on a collection of non-fungible tokens celebrating "an iconic Ronaldo moment." The investment didn't pan out for buyers, the BBC reports. The least expensive NFT in the group was priced at $77 at the time and now goes for about a buck. Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has agreed to pay more than $4 billion in fines and penalties, its founder another $200 million. And on Tuesday, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Ronaldo in Florida seeking more than $1 billion in damages.

The lawsuit blames the Portuguese athlete's endorsement for the losses, saying investors were led into unsafe investments, per the AP. Renaldo made "deceptive statements" about the offering, the filing says, per CNN. Neither Binance nor Renaldo immediately commented on the lawsuit. Other celebrities, including Tom Brady and Shaquille O'Neal, have been hit with similar lawsuits. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler has advised investors to be cautious and told celebrities they must "disclose to the public from whom and how much you are getting paid to promote investment in securities." Celebrities have argued that they shouldn't be liable for products they've endorsed. (More Binance stories.)