— SHAQ (@SHAQ) March 10, 2022
FTX?? pic.twitter.com/sdZr0LISWM
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) May 24, 2023
$103,239.00
-0.05%$2,490.24
6.40%$2.41
2.19%$653.40
2.38%$172.38
0.01%$0.999897
-0.01%$0.234962
14.61%$0.81101
3.78%$0.260737
-0.30%$2,489.67
6.32%$3.99
2.25%$102,991.00
-0.31%$16.81
4.80%$2,981.70
5.80%$24.60
6.48%$0.305195
3.65%$0.00001596
5.87%$0.212043
5.18%$25.38
1.27%$3.38
3.26%$419.89
2.65%$0.999923
-0.01%$8.55
-1.56%$103.28
3.71%$5.08
6.64%$2,489.79
6.17%$321.20
1.77%$2,653.68
6.09%$4.85
8.15%$0.0000132
6.52%$0.742209
1.28%$0.999885
-0.04%$103,111.00
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-0.02%$30.17
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8.46%$450.96
5.72%$3.11
7.02%$5.81
5.56%$224.09
6.35%$1.057
4.85%$54.95
2.13%$20.02
4.85%$1.051
0.00%$5.58
3.44%$1.00
0.00%$0.101096
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1.53%$5.25
6.18%$0.03109987
4.60%$0.774373
1.53%$5.15
4.63%$0.262161
4.06%$0.880231
5.79%$0.38936
6.07%$0.999648
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18.59%$3.14
4.56%$0.242011
4.13%$102,110.00
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0.84%$4.36
0.03%$0.00002263
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4.62%$4.55
0.55%$0.538592
0.36%$1.015
4.66%$1,835.10
6.08%$0.999275
0.11%$2,486.19
6.40%$98.62
3.77%$181.00
0.11%$2,588.69
6.04%$11.26
1.26%$0.92441
8.47%$0.826879
10.23%$0.263242
7.24%$1.32
-3.31%$0.02006537
-0.88%$1.30
1.46%$0.709097
7.94%$1.96
-0.08%$4.73
5.23%$13.06
11.21%$0.077061
-1.92%$2,825.90
6.33%$0.121403
10.06%$103,390.00
0.21%$1.00
-0.32%$0.789199
2.60%$0.00010525
5.85%$1.099
7.85%$0.953333
6.78%$0.941173
28.05%$652.40
2.18%$0.999784
0.01%$2,650.72
6.54%$222.56
-0.08%$0.01889335
2.62%$0.02065261
6.68%$0.998375
-0.19%$190.89
0.08%$3.02
5.48%$0.01383006
-4.04%$0.35271
6.94%$0.086231
13.09%$0.841392
2.17%$42.31
2.50%$103,301.00
-0.26%$3,327.64
-0.23%$2.42
5.34%$0.00000081
4.53%$103,523.00
-1.54%$2,605.33
6.18%$3,332.20
-0.15%$1.00
0.01%$102,592.00
-0.20%$13.72
-5.95%$23.56
3.67%$0.249611
6.09%$0.613909
0.79%$4.12
1.28%$0.123734
4.85%$0.449931
3.75%$0.747663
9.06%$2,598.59
7.81%$0.188652
-6.31%$0.366274
6.20%$0.655631
5.21%$42.42
1.86%$2.05
5.46%$0.997734
-0.00%$3.94
4.77%$0.998511
-0.10%$0.01844682
0.26%$0.757578
2.28%$0.234281
14.41%$1.69
12.92%$1.10
0.26%$0.01026131
-0.09%$0.00635173
5.94%$0.494782
4.25%$0.182395
8.26%$0.712254
3.74%$19.55
3.28%$111.00
0.00%$8.32
3.93%$2,490.81
6.47%$0.489195
-0.20%$2,653.60
6.73%$0.660035
5.96%$2,488.72
6.24%$103,225.00
-0.20%$0.524419
0.91%$2,540.67
6.33%$0.202548
10.67%$4.21
8.04%$0.200446
1.02%$0.00002496
4.20%$0.999058
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9.90%$3.03
6.82%$103,106.00
0.11%$6.81
4.81%$0.00913635
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4.64%$0.065372
-0.10%$0.999893
-0.01%$0.00000118
12.55%$99,560.00
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5.00%$1.84
2.06%$1.65
3.16%$0.693791
11.71%$1.86
34.43%$0.463381
23.78%$2,489.79
6.54%$0.163812
5.53%$47.70
5.93%$1.62
7.92%$0.261764
3.91%$0.0061737
1.92%$2,475.09
5.59%$0.00000042
-4.51%$1.096
0.00%$1.00
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13.13%$0.422872
4.27%$0.871909
5.18%$0.34848
-0.26%$0.00452861
4.04%$0.00006992
5.37%$0.00379468
9.89%$0.03782437
0.26%$0.186944
5.19%$0.372504
2.83%$0.01914082
0.32%$33.31
0.97%$1.002
0.41%$0.865555
2.44%$2,636.55
6.25%$138.08
6.20%$21.59
0.14%$4.25
10.14%$1.00
-0.01%$0.27981
7.87%$102,014.00
-1.16%$0.338855
0.45%$2,736.99
6.42%$0.574829
7.89%$2.99
2.47%$24.66
6.71%$0.733105
-0.24%$2,709.68
5.90%$0.00000161
0.83%$103,032.00
-0.23%$25.34
0.93%$0.997754
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2.75%$1.00
0.05%$0.00355593
0.08%$1.00
-0.01%$0.03712973
5.75%$2,489.92
6.50%$2,683.97
6.55%$18.69
7.08%$1.099
0.04%$0.28957
22.95%$24.43
2.07%$2,479.56
6.34%$0.595235
3.84%$0.00070058
49.63%$0.00287854
11.14%$0.00
15.26%$0.288533
0.97%$0.845006
5.50%$25.34
0.96%$0.00383845
7.38%$0.999887
0.05%$0.121957
4.62%$3.45
0.65%$0.01445125
3.58%Reading
Basketball icon Shaquille O’Neal was delivered legal papers for two separate lawsuits in the broader crypto and NFT realm on Tuesday—and was served while broadcasting an NBA game at what once was Miami’s FTX Arena.
One of the lawsuits centers on celebrities that promoted the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, including other high-profile defendants like former NFL quarterback Tom Brady and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” TV star Larry David.
Yet, the other complaint focuses specifically on O’Neal and his NFT project, Astrals, launched last March. The lawsuit alleges that Astrals NFTs offered for sale were unregistered securities and attached to promises made by the former NBA player.
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) March 10, 2022
The two lawsuits brought against O’Neal are led by The Moskowitz Law Firm and Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, who are working in tandem. Following accusations that Shaq was evading process servers and stifling court procedures, attorney Adam Moskowitz said that legal actions can now proceed.
“It is good that we can start with the merits, instead of the silly service sideshow Mr. O’Neal unfortunately created,” Moskowitz said in a written statement provided to Decrypt. “It seems absurd to have to go to such great lengths to serve Mr. O’Neal.”
Legal papers may have finally been served to Shaquille O’Neal in April over his involvement in promoting FTX, but the saga is not over yet. Lawyers for the former NBA star have now disputed the legitimacy of how the papers were delivered to O’Neal, saying they were thrown at his car, and landed on a public road. It represents another potential delay for lawyers at the Moskowitz Law Firm, who said last month they had tried repeatedly to serve O’Neal the papers in person but claimed the ex-NBA sta...
The Moskowitz Law Firm said O’Neal had the process server “kicked out” of the Miami Heat’s stadium after he was served, adding that the event was filmed to “ensure there was no ambiguity.”
Representatives for O’Neal did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Decrypt.
Moskowitz’s law firm said last month that it had finally served O’Neal in relation to the FTX lawsuit, but O’Neal’s lawyers shot back weeks ago, claiming legal documents were thrown at the NBA star’s car instead of being delivered to him personally.
Meanwhile, the 54-page complaint against O’Neal for his ownership of Astrals contains six total claims, accusing the former NBA icon of violating laws like Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.
Ultimately, the complaint claims that Astrals NFTs—unique digital tokens that signify the ownership of an item, often digital art—should be considered unregistered securities under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Howey Test. The process for determining whether something constitutes a security can be traced back to 1946.
FTX?? pic.twitter.com/sdZr0LISWM
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) May 24, 2023
“The fortunes of the Astrals NFT investors, and the value of the Astrals NFTs, were linked almost entirely to O’Neal’s celebrity status and the success of his promotional efforts,” the complaint states.
The complaint contains pages upon pages of Shaq’s involvement in the digital assets industry, documenting his foray into the Web3 space and how Astrals allegedly led investors astray.
Spanish Film Director Miguel Faus talks with Decrypt about how he financed his movie “Calladita” with NFTs. In his view, Web3 and blockchain allow creators to get around some of the key difficulties present in the traditional movie industry, specifically finding funding.
Astrals, a Solana-based NFT project, comprised 10,000 “metaverse-ready” avatars that would be supported by a DAO and a “story-driven, play-to-earn role-playing game,” according to a section of the project’s white paper included in the complaint.
The project was the brainchild of O’Neal, the lawsuit claims, and the appointment of O’Neal’s son, Myles O’Neal, as the project’s head of investor relations signals that the Astrals team viewed and portrayed the NFT project as a marketing opportunity.
The complaint focuses on the various ways O’Neal promoted the project—on social media and during musical performances as DJ Diesel—and how he stopped engaging with the project’s community after the collapse of FTX.
The last time O’Neal engaged with Astral’s community was on January 2 through the project’s Discord server, the lawsuit claims, when he allegedly posted a GIF from the film “The Wolf of Wall Street” captioned “I’m not fucking leaving.”
Gaming giant Square Enix, the firm behind Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, announced this week that it is expanding its blockchain game Symbiogenesis to Sony’s Ethereum layer-2 network, Soneium. Symbiogenesis originally launched on Ethereum scaling network Polygon, and is currently wrapping up what’s slated to be its final season of content. But that imminent conclusion isn’t stopping Square Enix from a further affiliation with Sony on the blockchain. The initiative connects Symbiogenesis with...
Doodles took its next major step forward Friday after switching CEOs in January, launching its ecosystem token—DOOD—on Solana with an airdrop for NFT holders. The initiative is the first critical launch since Scott Martin, better known as Burnt Toast, assumed the project’s chief executive role, beginning an era in which he planned to introduce more risk while doing away with its previously “extractive corpo” initiatives. Martin, who is also the artist behind the Doodles brand, previously spoke...
Adidas and the makers of Sui-based game Xociety announced a collaboration this week to release limited edition NFT mystery boxes containing in-game character skins, marking the athletic apparel brand's latest move in the blockchain world. The collection, launching May 16, will offer 2,600 mystery boxes priced at $129 each, each containing Adidas-themed virtual clothing and accessories for player avatars in Xociety—a "pop shooter" game built on the Sui blockchain. Each mystery box contains Adidas...