CRYPTO: Cristiano Ronaldo slapped with over $1 billion lawsuit for Binance promotion

Portuguese football legend Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a lawsuit for his promotion of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

The plaintiffs have demanded damages of "a sum over" $1 billion (£790m).

The complaint alleges that Ronaldo played a role in the offer and sale of unregistered securities in coordination with Binance. 

The footballer entered into a partnership with Binance in 2022 to promote his non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which became associated with the exchange.

Users who signed up for Ronaldo's NFTs are claimed to be more likely to use the exchange for other purposes, such as investing in unregistered securities. 

The lawsuit argues that Ronaldo, with his investment experience and resources, should have known about Binance's sale of unregistered crypto securities.

Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has pleaded guilty to causing the global cryptocurrency exchange to fail to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program. 

Binance was accused of breaking anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and failing to report suspicious transactions with organisations classified as terrorist groups by the US, including Hamas, al Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. 

As part of a plea deal, Binance agreed to pay over $4.3 billion, and Zhao agreed to pay a $150 million penalty to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. 

Zhao faces up to 18 months in prison, and a US federal judge has ruled that he cannot leave the United States until his sentencing hearing in February.