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Steph Curry, Tom Brady, and More Celebs Named In Massive FTX Lawsuit

Steph Curry, Tom Brady, and More Celebs Named In Massive FTX Lawsuit

As the stunning collapse of FTX continues to captivate America, and the world, numerous celebrity "brand ambassadors" could face potential legal action.

Credit: Craig Barritt/Getty Images

Over the weekend, news broke that Berkeley-based author Michael Lewis had spent the past six months embedded with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, reportedly to write a book about the rise and fall of Fried's cryptocurrency empire.

As this information circulated, financial markets reeled from the collapse of the popular exchange. For those unfamiliar with the demise of the crypto exchange, on November 11, 2022, FTX filed for bankruptcy, wiping billions of dollars of value from the brand, billionaire CEO Fried, and the cryptocurrency market at large. 

Furthermore, fears that client funds were misused led to a run on FTX deposits, creating an estimated $8 billion liquidity shortfall -- if you know anything about the start of the Great Depression, this is in many ways a microcosm of what happened to the overall American economy in 1929 when people frantically liquidated their assets from banks. 

Details about Fried's actions have continued to emerge over the past few days, with social media blowing up regarding the situation.

Instagrammer Arbitage Andy, who posts sales, trading, crypto, and global news, shared a text exchange between Fried and a Vox reporter. The caption notes, "This entire thing is becoming absurd and the longer this dude isn’t arrested or detained the more suspicious I get. Thoughts?"

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Commenters widely agreed that Fried should face some type of criminal legal action. Now, major celebrity names have come into play as the FTX drama plays out.

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Fried and multiple celebrity "brand ambassadors" in the U.S. District Court's Southern District of Florida. The suit was specifically filed on behalf of Oklahoma resident Edwin Garrison.

Fox Business reports that, according to a 41-page court document, the lawsuit names an array of high-profile FTX proponents, including "Sam Bankman-Fried, Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors, Shaquille O’Neal, Udonis Haslem, David Ortiz, William Trevor Lawrence, Shohei Ohtani, Naomi Osaka, Lawrence Gene David, and Kevin O’Leary."

It seeks to hold them "responsible for the many billions of dollars in damages they caused Plaintiff and the Classes and to force Defendants to make them whole."

The lawsuit, according to Fox's report, goes on to describe these well-known public figures as "parties who either controlled, promoted, assisted in, and actively participated in FTX Trading and FTX US (collectively, the "FTX Entities"), offer and sale of unregistered securities in the form of yield-bearing accounts (YBAs) to residents of the United States."

Credit: Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images

There is plenty of evidence of the celebrities' support of Fried and his brand.

Brady, for example, previously told MarketWatch, “It’s an incredibly exciting time in the crypto-world and Sam and the revolutionary FTX team continue to open my eyes to the endless possibilities."

At this time, it is unknown if any legal action outside of the class action lawsuit will be taken against the various celebrities associated with FTX.

Feature image credit: Christian Peterson/Getty Images

What do you think about the ongoing FTX situation?

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Rebekah Barton

Rebekah Barton

Rebekah's search engine optimization career began completely by accident as a college student. Over the course of her career so far, she has "grown up" with the SEO industry, from writing content while juggling classes to managing her own teams of writers and overseeing SEO strategy in subsequent roles. She is excited to bring her passion for high-quality content to CountingWorks, Inc.

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