Earlier than its a lot publicized collapse, FTX was the Tom Brady of cryptocurrency exchanges, broadly considered one in every of “essentially the most nimble and best-run crypto corporations,” the New York Instances reported in early November.
It helped that the crypto trade had the six-time Tremendous Bowl champion as an endorser. In a single advert, above, Brady and his now ex-wife Gisele Bündchen are seen calling acquaintances to recruit them to affix the buying and selling platform. The advert ends with the tagline: “Crypto. FTX. You in?”
However now Brady and a number of other different celebrities who appeared in commercials for FTX are going through lawsuits over their alleged position within the meltdown that has left buyers wondering whether or not they can get any of their a refund.
A pair of class-action lawsuits filed final month accuse Brady, Bündchen, former skilled baseball participant David Ortiz, NBA star Stephen Curry and comic Larry David, amongst others, of failing to reveal the character, scope and quantity of compensation they acquired in trade for selling the FTX platform, in violation of Florida state securities legal guidelines.
A part of the scheme employed by [FTX] concerned using among the largest names in sports activities and leisure – like these Defendants – to lift funds and drive American customers to spend money on [crypto] … pouring billions of {dollars} into the Misleading FTX Platform to maintain the entire scheme afloat.
The complaints additionally identify as a defendant the corporate’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who has denied committing fraud at FTX.
The lawsuits come after TINA.org despatched notification letters to celebrities promoting NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, on social media, informing them that if they’ve a cloth connection to the NFT corporations they’re selling, similar to a enterprise relationship, that connection must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed within the endorsement as required by FTC law.
One of many celebrities to obtain a letter from TINA.org? None aside from the GOAT himself, Tom Brady.
The underside line: Train warning when contemplating funding recommendation from celebrities.
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