NBA Superstar O'Neal Agrees to Pay $11 Million to Settle Collective Lawsuit Related to Astral's NFT Project

BlockBeats News, April 9th, former NBA legendary player Shaquille O'Neal has agreed to pay $11 million to settle a class-action lawsuit related to his involvement in the Solana-based Astrals NFT project. Federal Judge Federico Moreno of Florida approved the final settlement agreement on April 1st, and the order was made public on April 8th.

The settlement establishes an $11 million fund that will be available to eligible investors who purchased Astrals NFT or received the project's GLXY token during the period from May 2022 to January 15, 2024. The court also approved $2.9 million in attorney's fees and related expenses. Judge Moreno ruled that the fee request was "fair and reasonable," and the plaintiffs did not object.

The lawsuit was initially filed in May 2023, alleging that Shaquille O'Neal promoted and assisted in launching the Astrals NFT series, which the plaintiffs argued constituted an unregistered securities offering. They claimed to have suffered financial losses due to O'Neal's promotional actions. In August, Judge Moreno acknowledged that the plaintiffs reasonably alleged that the former athlete acted as a seller under securities laws. O'Neal reached a settlement agreement in November.

Astrals NFT was launched in April 2022 and included 10,000 unique 3D avatars created by artist Damien Gimon.