In a recent court ruling, Shaquille O’Neal’s involvement in the Solana-based NFT project Astrals was partially dismissed. The Miami court determined that while O’Neal was involved as a “seller” in the Astrals project, he was not a “control person,” thereby granting his request to dismiss some allegations in the unregistered securities class action lawsuit that began in May 2023.
Astrals, which featured 10,000 unique 3D avatars and aimed to promote investment in a virtual world called Astralverse, also had its own governance token named Galaxy. The project sought to build a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). According to court documents, O’Neal promoted the project through various online platforms and was seen in a video stating that the Astrals team would continue developing until the NFTs reached a price of 30 SOL. Plaintiffs allege that O’Neal’s promotion continued during the FTX collapse but that he later abandoned the project, causing the value of the NFTs to fall.
The court dismissed claims that O’Neal had “actual power or control” over Astrals. However, U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno upheld the notion that O’Neal was a “seller” who actively solicited purchases of Astrals products. The judge also rejected O’Neal’s motion to dismiss claims that Astrals NFTs and Galaxy tokens constitute financial securities.
O’Neal’s legal team contends that he is neither a seller nor a controlling figure and that the NFTs and tokens are not securities. The court has given O’Neal and the Astrals project until September 12 to respond to the allegations. O’Neal has not yet commented on the matter.