NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to a substantial settlement of $11 million in a class-action lawsuit related to his promotion of the ill-fated Astrals NFT project. A federal judge in Florida authorized the settlement on April 1, with the details becoming public this week on April 8, as revealed by court documents.
Basketball Star Ensnared in Crypto Dispute
The lawsuit, initiated in May 2023, accused O’Neal of endorsing the sale of unregistered securities linked to the Solana-based Astrals NFT collection. Investors who purchased Astrals NFTs or the associated GLXY tokens between May 2022 and January 15, 2024, will now be entitled to compensation from the settlement fund. Judge Federico Moreno previously recognized that the plaintiffs presented a credible argument that O’Neal acted as a seller under securities regulations. This settlement follows an extensive period of legal negotiations, culminating in an agreement between O’Neal and the plaintiffs last November.
Legal Fees Take a Significant Portion
The court has sanctioned $2.9 million in legal fees and associated costs as part of the settlement arrangement. Judge Moreno deemed these fees as “fair and reasonable,” noting that none of the plaintiffs raised objections regarding the amount designated for legal representatives. The lawyers successfully argued that investors incurred losses due to O’Neal’s promotional efforts for the project. Court documents indicated that O’Neal directed potential investors to “hop on the wave before it’s too late,” a statement that later became a point of contention in court.
Failed Venture Promised Unique Experiences
The Astrals NFTs were launched in April 2022, offering 10,000 unique 3D avatars crafted by artist Damien Guimoneau. The project was marketed as an immersive metaverse experience, allowing users to engage with each other and with O’Neal himself. Despite the celebrity endorsement, data from the NFT marketplace OpenSea shows that the collection has not demonstrated any activity over the past two years. O’Neal is said to have continued supporting the project publicly, even after the significant downfall of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022. However, the court did grant O’Neal a minor victory by dismissing claims that he was a “control person” within the project, a designation that would imply he had actual authority over its operations rather than merely serving as its well-known figurehead.
Ongoing Challenges in the NFT Market
This settlement occurs at a time when the wider NFT market is grappling with a significant downturn. For the week ending April 7, 2025, total NFT sales volume plummeted to just $27 million, a stark contrast to the over $2 billion weekly sales recorded during the market’s peak in 2021. The decline in trading volumes has been persistent, with a staggering drop of more than 60% observed in February alone. This ongoing slide, which began in early 2024, indicates that the once-thriving digital collectibles market is still in a prolonged decline.
