Shaq Agrees to $11 Million Settlement in Solana NFT Lawsuit - Decrypt

Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to provide compensation to investors involved in his Astrals NFT venture who reportedly bought unregistered securities as stated in a court filing on Monday.

The suggested agreement involves O’Neal and related Astrals entities offering $11 million in compensation to support the settlement class members and cover legal expenses if approved by the court; this would essentially resolve O’Neal’s NFT related legal challenges sooner rather, than later.

A potential group lawsuit was filed by investors who bought NFT collectibles from O’Neal’s Astrals venture that included 10K Solana based avatars ready, for the metaverse or a governance token connected to the project’s decentralized autonomous organization named GLXY.

Lead attorney Adam Moskovitz shared with Decrypt that amidst the wave of NFT and crypto collapses lately; notable figures like Shaquille O'Neal have been instrumental in assisting victims in the crypto community who have suffered losses due to failed ventures, like Astrals and FTX platforms where Shaquille himself was also affected.

The legal case asserted that O’Neal was involved in promoting Astral NFTs but later withdrew from the initiative in 2022 He supposedly generated excitement, for the project during his DJ Diesel performances and linked its prosperity to his social media fame.

On a summer day in August year down in Floridas courtrooms a federal judge made a decision to throw out some parts of the legal case against O’Neal after considering the possibility that O’Neal could be seen as someone involved in selling according to the securities rules. In a stroke of luck pointed out by Moskowitz it became clear that O’Neal didn't necessarily need to make individualized statements to still be responsible; all it took was having an interest, in making money from online posts.

In the filing submitted on Monday by the plaintiffs they referred to the settlement offer as a " outcome " highlighting the challenging financial situation of the Astral entities at present.

In October last year, on Discord community platform Astrals communicated to its members about the lawsuit causing significant financial pressure leading to a potential bankruptcy situation looming ahead for the companys GLXY token support as mentioned in the documents.

As the leader of the Moskovitz Law Firm and its managing partner Moskovitz has been at the forefront of action involving celebrities and cryptocurrency. One notable case involved action against promoters associated with FTX. The defendants in this lawsuit included renowned football player Tom Brady and comedian Larry David. They had appeared in advertisements, for the defunct cryptocurrency exchange before it was revealed to be a large scale fraudulent operation.

The cryptocurrency market was shaken by the impact of FTXs actions as O'Neill reportedly made a commitment before stepping away from the initiative with a bold statement; "I won't give up easily." He shared a GIF from "The Wolf of Wall Street" movie, on Astrals’ Discord server as his message before departing from the platform altogether.

Moskovitz spoke positively about O’Neal, after the settlement suggestion. Previously mentioned to Decrypt that "the most significant individual is evading our legal action" regarding the FTX lawsuit situation. Finding it challenging to reach out to the basketball icon Moskovitz alleged that O’Neal was engaging in a game of hide and seek.

After trying times to deliver documents to O’Neals residence as stated by the law firm last year and allegedly tossing them at his car according to his lawyers instead of serving him directly outside his house on one occasion; it was later during a broadcast of an NBA game, at the venue formerly known as Miamis FTX Arena that O’Neal was officially served papers related to FTX and his Astrals endeavor.

Before the agreement with the Astrals was finalized made efforts to have the lawsuit thrown out by using innovative arguments.In one instance his legal team contended that the virtual assets, in dispute were not originally designed for investment purposes in the year; instead they were created for gaming enthusiasts.

The projects activity on media has decreased since the lawsuit emerged; for instance the most recent post by Astrals on Twitter (also known as X)) was, in December 2023.