SEC 审查 NFT 市场，Shaq 以 1100 万美元和解 NFT 诉讼

沙奎尔·“沙克”·奥尼尔可能在篮球场上屡屡获胜，但在佛罗里达州的联邦地区法院，他的防守却不尽如人意。

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.

沙奎尔·“沙克”·奥尼尔在篮球场上可能没有投失一球，但在佛罗里达州的联邦地区法院，他的防守却不尽如人意。

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.

根据法庭文件，周一，这位前篮球明星的原告提交了一份无异议的提案，要求以 1100 万美元和解。

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.

该和解协议正在等待法官的批准，这将结束一场假定的集体诉讼，在该诉讼中，奥尼尔被指控发行和推销未注册的证券。

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

这些所谓的证券是 Astrals 的 NFT 集合，或者是 10,000 张“元宇宙就绪 3D 化身”的图像，以及一个名为 Galaxy 的相关代币。

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 背后的公司也是和解协议的一部分，1100 万美元将用于支付原告的律师费以及向 NFT 和代币购买者支付的现金。

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

奥尼尔是最新一位因参与加密货币而面临法律困境的名人。

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) 在推广 EthereumMax 加密项目后，于 2022 年向美国证券交易委员会支付了约 130 万美元的罚款，以达成和解。

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

同样，美国橄榄球联盟 (NFL) 球星汤姆·布雷迪 (Tom Brady) 和喜剧演员拉里·大卫 (Larry David) 因推广破产的加密货币交易所 FTX 而面临法律问题。

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

奥尼尔还卷入了针对推广 FTX 的一系列名人的诉讼。

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 团队和奥尼尔的律师没有立即回应置评请求。原告律师亚当·莫斯科维茨也没有立即回应。

Are NFTs securities?

NFT 是证券吗？

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

对于那些认为 NFT 可以成为未注册证券的律师和监管机构来说，和解表明他们可以在法庭上提出自己的主张。

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 月以来，美国证券交易委员会 (SEC) 对三个 NFT 集合——Impact Theory、Stoner Cats 和 Flyfish Club——处以与证券相关的指控。

All three NFT projects settled without admitting or denying fault.

所有三个 NFT 项目均在不承认或否认错误的情况下达成和解。

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 市场之一 OpenSea 宣布收到 SEC 的 Wells 通知，这意味着该机构已初步决定对实体提起诉讼。

“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 发出的 Wells 通知，威胁要起诉我们，因为他们认为我们平台上的 NFT 是证券，”联合创始人兼首席执行官 Devin Finzer 在 X 上写道。“我们对 SEC 采取如此全面的行动感到震惊创作者和艺术家。”

The crypto faithful echoed Finzer’s apparent surprise.

加密货币忠实拥护者回应了芬泽明显的惊讶。

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

Kraken 联合创始人杰西·鲍威尔 (Jesse Powell) 在推特上写道：“从表面上看，这显然是荒谬的。”

‘Financial strain’

“财务紧张”

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.

根据最初的投诉，奥尼尔和他的儿子是 Astrals 的创始人，他们于 2022 年 3 月推出了 10,000 张 3D 图像的集合。

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.

为了推广 NFT 及其相关的 Galaxy 加密货币，这位篮球传奇人物以他的另一个自我“DJ Diesel”的身份，在 Astrals 角色的巨大图像前进行了表演，以及其他推广策略。

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.

一年后，即 2023 年 5 月，原告因奥尼尔在《星界》中的角色对他提起诉讼。在一年多的诉讼过程中，奥尼尔和 Astrals 团队多次提出驳回申诉。

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，负责此案的联邦法官表示，原告可以继续诉讼。他总结道，他们有理有据地辩称，Astrals NFT 和 Galaxy 代币是未注册的证券。

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

11月，原告和被告的律师均表示他们已达成和解。

“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.”

根据拟议的和解协议，Astrals 团队在其私人 Discord 上宣布：“财务压力已经变得巨大。” “律师费超出了我们最初的预期，而且案件的拖延时间也比预期的要长。”

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

Ben Weiss 是 DL News 的迪拜记者。有小费吗？电子邮件：bweiss@dlnews.com。