Recent news reports revealed that the NBA star, who was involved in the Binance marketing campaign lawsuit, has filed for lawsuit dismissal. The news has drawn significant attention as the individual is quite a prominent figure in the basketball profession.
According to the report, Jimmy Butler, a Miami Heat basketball star, recently got involved in a class-action court case against all celebrities that Binance Exchange used to promote its product offerings. The report revealed that the Moskowitz Law Firm and Boies Schiller Flexner filed a lawsuit worth $1 billion against Binance.
Furthermore, the lawsuit document showed that the largest exchange globally, Binance, was accused of practicing deceptive activities by listing and promoting unregistered securities, including BNB, with the aid of influencers and celebrities, which Jimmy Butler was reportedly among. However, Butler has filed for dismissal of the case.
According to the news, the Miami Heat star has, through his legal team, motioned the court to dismiss him from the lawsuit. In his filing, Butler claimed he did not endorse any form of unregistered securities in the three promotional tweets he made for Binance between February 2 and 13, contrary to what the lawsuit claimed.
The basketballer continued that his tweets were strictly focused on urging the firm’s potential customers to engage in due diligence by doing their research before investing in crypto assets.
Butler Accused Of Deceptive Promotion Alongside Others
As evident in one of the promotional videos Binance tweeted prior to the Super Bowl in 2022, Jimmy Butler dwells on the significance of carrying out personal research before investing in the cryptocurrency market. He also warned viewers to be cautious when listening to influencers who are certainly not aware of the financial capacities of their followers, which they market to.
But the same video was used against Butler in the amended lawsuit on June 27, claiming that the NBA star’s action was deceptive as it co-occurred with the publicity of free Binance NFTs.
Consider g his prodigy and status as a popular figure in the NBA, Butler’s involvement in the $1 billion lawsuit quickly drew attention. Nonetheless, he was not the only one accused in the case. Famous YouTubers Ben Armstrong and Graham Stephen, alongside Binance exchange and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, were also charged under the lawsuit.
According to the report, Butler, Armstrong, and Binance recently filed different motions to dismiss their involvement in the lawsuit. And it was recalled that the fourth defendant, Youtuber Graham Stephen, was acquitted of the case on June 15.
The Outcome Of The Case Would Impact Celebrity Endorsements In Crypto Industry
Since the lawsuit began in June, many questions have been raised concerning the roles of influencers and public figures in promoting cryptocurrency. Many experts considered the absence of specific rules to govern the promotions and advertisement of crypto-related products as one of the significant issues that need to be addressed soon.
Furthermore, crypto enthusiasts commented that the court’s decision on the dismissal motion filed by Jimmy Butler would greatly impact how celebrities get involved in promoting digital assets in the future. Also, they added that the case might stir a need to reevaluate digital asset advertisement practices and creation of leader regulations to guide and protect customers from deceptive information.
In a similar case in 2022, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission sued a famous celebrity, Kim Kardashian, for promoting a crypto scheme dubbed EthereumMax. She was reportedly fined a whooping sum of $1.27 million for her involvement with the project.
In addition, the billionaire celebrity, alongside other public figures such as Floyd Mayweather, was sued in a class action case by investors who argued that the celebrities promoted the project, which misled them to invest in it. However, they later incurred huge losses fr9m the project and sued the celebrities for allegedly promoting a pump-and-dump project. Nonetheless, the presiding US court dissolved the case in December last year.
