SEC 審查 NFT 市場，Shaq 以 1,100 萬美元和解 NFT 訴訟

沙奎爾「沙克」歐尼爾可能在籃球場上屢屢獲勝，但在佛羅裡達州的聯邦地區法院，他的防守卻不盡人意。

Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal might not have missed a shot on the basketball court, but in a federal district court in Florida, his defense wasn’t up to snuff.

沙奎爾「沙克」歐尼爾在籃球場上可能沒有投失一球，但在佛羅裡達州的聯邦地區法院，他的防守卻不盡人意。

On Monday, plaintiffs against the former basketball star submitted an unopposed proposal to settle a lawsuit against him for $11 million, according to court filings.

根據法庭文件，週一，這位前籃球明星的原告提交了一份無異議的提案，要求以 1100 萬美元和解。

The settlement, pending approval from the judge, would put an end to a putative class action lawsuit in which O’Neal was alleged to have issued and promoted unregistered securities.

和解協議正在等待法官的批准，這將結束一場假定的集體訴訟，在該訴訟中，奧尼爾被指控發行和推銷未註冊的證券。

These alleged securities were an NFT collection from Astrals, or 10,000 images of “metaverse-ready 3D avatars,” and an associated token called Galaxy.

這些所謂的證券是 Astrals 的 NFT 集合，或是 10,000 張「元宇宙就緒 3D 化身」的圖像，以及一個名為 Galaxy 的相關代幣。

The companies behind Astrals are also part of the settlement agreement, and the $11 million would cover both the plaintiffs’ attorney fees and cash payouts to the purchasers of the NFTs and tokens.

Astrals 背後的公司也是和解協議的一部分，1,100 萬美元將用於支付原告的律師費以及向 NFT 和代幣購買者支付的現金。

O’Neal is the latest celebrity to face legal woes for his involvement in crypto.

歐尼爾是最新一位因參與加密貨幣而面臨法律困境的名人。

Celebrity socialite Kim Kardashian paid about $1.3 million in penalties to settle charges with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2022 after promoting the EthereumMax crypto project.

名人社交名流金卡戴珊 (Kim Kardashian) 在推廣 EthereumMax 加密項目後，於 2022 年向美國證券交易委員會支付了約 130 萬美元的罰款，以達成和解。

Similarly, NFL star Tom Brady and comedian Larry David faced legal problems for promoting bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.

同樣，美國橄欖球聯盟 (NFL) 球星湯姆·布雷迪 (Tom Brady) 和喜劇演員拉里·大衛 (Larry David) 因推廣破產的加密貨幣交易所 FTX 而面臨法律問題。

O’Neal is also included in litigation against the suite of celebrities who promoted FTX.

歐尼爾也捲入了一系列針對推廣 FTX 的名人的訴訟。

Lawyers for the Astrals team and O’Neal did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Plaintiffs’ lawyer Adam Moskowitz also did not immediately respond.

Astrals 團隊和奧尼爾的律師沒有立即回應置評請求。原告律師亞當·莫斯科維茨也沒有立即回應。

Are NFTs securities?

NFT 是證券嗎？

For attorneys and regulators who believe NFTs can be unregistered securities, the settlement shows they can make their case in a court of law.

對於那些認為 NFT 可以成為未註冊證券的律師和監管機構來說，和解表明他們可以在法庭上提出自己的主張。

Since September 2023, the SEC has slapped three NFT collections — Impact Theory, Stoner Cats, and Flyfish Club — with securities-related charges.

自 2023 年 9 月以來，美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 對三個 NFT 集合——Impact Theory、Stoner Cats 和 Flyfish Club——處以與證券相關的指控。

All three NFT projects settled without admitting or denying fault.

所有三個 NFT 項目均在不承認或否認錯誤的情況下達成和解。

And, in August, OpenSea, one of the largest NFT marketplaces, announced that it had received a Wells notice from the SEC, which means the agency has decided preliminarily to bring litigation against an entity.

8 月，最大的 NFT 市場之一 OpenSea 宣布收到 SEC 的 Wells 通知，這意味著該機構已初步決定對該實體提起訴訟。

“OpenSea has received a Wells notice from the SEC threatening to sue us because they believe NFTs on our platform are securities,” co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer wrote on X. “We’re shocked the SEC would make such a sweeping move against creators and artists.”

「OpenSea 已收到SEC 發出的Wells 通知，威脅要起訴我們，因為他們認為我們平台上的NFT 是證券，」聯合創始人兼首席執行官Devin Finzer 在X 上寫道。的行動感到震驚創作者和藝術家。

The crypto faithful echoed Finzer’s apparent surprise.

加密貨幣忠實擁護者回應了芬澤明顯的驚訝。

“This is obviously absurd on its face,” tweeted Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell.

Kraken 聯合創始人 Jesse Powell 在推特上寫道：“從表面上看，這顯然是荒謬的。”

‘Financial strain’

“財務緊張”

O’Neal and his son are the founders of Astrals, and in March 2022, they launched the collection of the 10,000 3D images, according to the original complaint.

根據最初的投訴，奧尼爾和他的兒子是 Astrals 的創始人，他們於 2022 年 3 月推出了 10,000 張 3D 圖像的集合。

To promote the NFTs and their associated Galaxy cryptocurrency, the basketball legend, under his alter ego “DJ Diesel,” performed shows in front of massive images of Astrals characters, among other promotion tactics.

為了推廣 NFT 及其相關的 Galaxy 加密貨幣，這位籃球傳奇人物以他的另一個自我「DJ Diesel」的身份，在 Astrals 角色的巨大圖像前進行了表演，以及其他推廣策略。

One year later, in May 2023, plaintiffs brought a lawsuit against O’Neal for his role in Astrals. Over more than a year of litigation, O’Neal and the Astrals team repeatedly moved to dismiss the complaint.

一年後，在 2023 年 5 月，原告因奧尼爾在《星界》中的角色對他提起訴訟。在一年多的訴訟中，歐尼爾和 Astrals 團隊多次提出駁回申訴。

However, in August, the federal judge overseeing the case said that the plaintiffs could proceed with the litigation. They had plausibly argued that the Astrals NFTs and the Galaxy token were unregistered securities, he concluded.

然而，八月份，負責此案的聯邦法官表示，原告可以繼續訴訟。他總結道，他們有理有據地辯稱，Astrals NFT 和 Galaxy 代幣是未註冊的證券。

In November, lawyers for both the plaintiffs and defendants signaled that they had reached a settlement.

11月，原告和被告的律師均表示他們已達成和解。

“The financial strain has become substantial,” the Astrals team announced on its private Discord, according to the proposed settlement. “Legal fees have exceeded our initial expectations, and the case has stretched on longer than anticipated.”

根據擬議的和解協議，Astrals 團隊在其私人 Discord 上宣布：“財務壓力已經變得巨大。” “律師費超出了我們最初的預期，而且案件的拖延時間也比預期的要長。”

Ben Weiss is DL News’ Dubai Correspondent. Got a tip? Email at bweiss@dlnews.com.

Ben Weiss 是 DL News 的杜拜記者。有小費嗎？電子郵件：bweiss@dlnews.com。