Nfts
Cristiano Ronaldo Binance NFTs on sale despite billion-dollar lawsuit
When it comes to one of the greatest strikers in football history, crypto still has legs.
Despite the ongoing litigation facing both Cristiano Ronaldo And Binancethe Portuguese star unveiled his fourth NFT collection with the global cryptocurrency exchange on Wednesday.
Thousands of digital collectibles featuring works produced by seven different artists will go on sale exclusively on Binance’s NFT marketplace over the next two weeks for $35 each. Some holders will later receive perks such as jerseys and match tickets, while a handful of rarer NFTs will be auctioned off in June. Buyers of these digital items will have the chance to meet Ronaldo in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he plays for Al-Nassr FC. Owners of the six regular NFTs (each representing a different stage during Ronaldo’s career) will also have the chance to participate in a quiz to win the seventh NFT, representing Portugal, and join this journey.
The announcement comes weeks after Florida Judge Roy Altman denied Ronaldo’s request to dismiss a $1 billion fine. trial against the star for having favored the “sale of unregistered securities in coordination with Binance”.
Binance launched the first round of Ronaldo NFT in November 2022, and the soccer star has repeatedly posted about the company to his more than 630 million followers on Instagram.
As blockchain As the technology bids for public adoption, several companies have turned to sports – and its biggest stars, including Ronaldo, Tom Brady and Steph Curry – to increase the industry’s credibility.
“For me it’s a question of confidence”, Ronaldo said during an online Q&A session in 2023 explaining his favorite things about Binance.
Binance has also signed deals with football organizations including FC Porto and SS Lazio, as well as F1 team Alpine. It claims to have onboarded over a million new users through sports partnerships.
“Once these users come to Binance, they quickly engage with our brand,” said Sarah Dale, Binance’s head of global partnerships and entertainment. “We see them coming to learn with us and engage with us and we see that increase after the campaign period.”
Criticism of these connections has intensified in 2022, particularly following the bankruptcy of Binance rival FTX. Brady, Curry, Shohei Ohtani and Shaquille O’Neal have all been named in a lawsuit against celebrity supporters of FTX, while MLB and Jimmy Butler have also faced lawsuits.
As part of a settlement with the US government last November, Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines, while former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to money laundering violations. money after prosecutors said members of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, among other bad actors, used the service. In April, Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison.
“Words cannot explain how much I regret my choices that brought me before the Court,” he said in a letter to the judge before sentencing, while also noting that Binance has implemented stricter controls in 2022. “Rest assured, this will never happen again.”
Binance is now moving forward under new management.
“Positioning yourself for the next 50 years means understanding the current challenges in cryptography and working to develop cutting-edge standards to address them,” the company said. wrote by announcing his resolution to American investigators. “We have built a community and ecosystem that enables individuals to harness the power of blockchain technology to unlock opportunities for their families, communities and economies around the world, and we are committed to ensuring that the transformative power of these technology is felt by more people. people all over the world.
Crypto proponents have seen reason for optimism in recent months. Bitcoin prices surpassed $70,000 for the first time in March, while Binance Coin prices rose more than 90% year-over-year. Ronaldo’s third collaboration with Binance began in October, offering 50,000 free collectibles and a smaller number of tangible rewards.
“With each release, we’ve really seen more interest from fans,” Dale said, “and we continue to push ourselves to provide more creativity, better access to him, bigger rewards, for us surpass every time.”
Binance is still grappling with a separate 13-count lawsuit from the Security and Exchange Commission, which was outlined by Binance US COO Christopher Blodgett in a statement. deposition as a “near fatal blow” to the American operation.
Partly due to legal restrictions, Ronaldo’s latest NFT set, “Forever Worldwide: The Road to Saudi Arabia,” is not available in the United States, where Binance’s main international service is currently available. forbidden.