NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to pay $ 11 million to resolve a lawsuit application Over his marketing of the failed Astrals NFT project. A Federal Judge in Florida approved the settlement on April 1, with the order to become public just this week on April 8, according to court documents.
Basket icon caught in crypto controversy
The mood, first submitted in May 2023, claimed that O’Neal promoted sales of unregistered securities through Solana-based Astrals NFT collection. Investors who bought Astrals NFTs or the project’s GLxy symbols between May 2022 and January 15, 2024 will now be eligible for compensation from the settlement fund.
Judge Federico Moreno previously acknowledged that the plaintiffs had made a likely case that the former NBA star acted as a seller under the Securities Act. The settlement comes after months of legal back and forth, with O’Neal who reaches an agreement with the plaintiff in November last year.
Next shot – Shaquille O’Neal and #Astrals Nfts + $ Glxy Tokens.
Shaq actively marketed tokens and called himself “Astrals Chief Astronaut.” But after the FTX collapse in November 2022, the project’s reputation took a hit, and token sales slowed down considerably.$ Glxy is down … pic.twitter.com/quhziigcda
– 11th.com (@11testate) March 28, 2025
Lawyers take home $ 2.9 million
The Court approved $ 2.9 million in legal fees and related costs as part of the settlement package. Judge Moreno made that these fees were “fair and reasonable” and found that none of the complainants objected to the amount the lawyers would receive.
The lawyers could convince the court that investors lost their money because of O’Neal’s marketing campaigns for the project.
Court paper indicates that O’Neal urged potential investors to “jump on the scales before it’s too late”, something that came to haunt him in court.
Screenshot of court document on Shaq's legal settlement. Source: Courtlistener
Failed project promised virtual meetings with Shaq
Astrals were released in April 2022 and provided 10,000 One-of-A-Kind 3D-Avatars designed by artist Damien Guimoneau. The company introduced itself as a completely engrossing metavere experience through which users could interact with other users as well as with O’Neal himself.
Despite the star power behind it, the collection has shown zero signs of activity over the past two years based on data from the NFT Marketplace Opensea.
O’Neal reportedly continued to support the project publicly even after the large Cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed in November 2022.
The court threw a little victory and dismissed claims that he was a “control person” within the project – a designation that would have suggested that he had an actual power over its activities rather than just acting as its famous face.
Shaquille O’Neal meets legal action over the Astrals NFT project and FTX -engagement
TLDRShaquille O’Neal is facing a lawsuit over his commitment to the Astrals NFT project
The court rejected accusations that O’Neal was a “control person” but found he could be disadvantages … pic.twitter.com/tslw52ewow
– 🛑 BREAKING NEWS 🛑📢🔔⚠💥❗💬 (@NOTANOTTIP) August 19, 2024
NFT market continues downward spiral
The settlement comes as the wider NFT market struggle to regain their former glory. Total NFT sales volume amounted to just $ 27 million for the week, which ended on April 7, 2025, a dramatic decline from the Dollar Dollar-Plus weekly volumes that were registered during the market’s top 2021.
This downward trend has been ongoing, with trading volumes that have dropped by more than 60% in February alone. The drop continues a picture that began in early 2024, which indicates the once hot digital collectible market remains in a long -term decline.
Image from Megan Briggs/Getty, Chart from TradingView
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