An FTX user is suing NBA team Golden State Warriors, accusing them of fraudulently promoting the FTX exchange after losing $750,000 due to the platform’s collapse.
The plaintiff Elliot Lam, filed a class action lawsuit in San Francisco against Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), former CEO of FTX, Caroline Ellison, CEO of SBF’s trading firm Alameda Research and the Golden State Warriors, seeking $5 million in damages, according to Reuters, which had access to the lawsuit.
Elliot Lam: FTX Was a “Fraud” Promoted by The Warriors
According to Elliot, “thousands, if not millions, of consumers internationally” lost their savings because of the large-scale “fraud” perpetrated by FTX, which continues to wreak havoc on the crypto ecosystem.
Elliot further stated that the NBA team deliberately promoted the cryptocurrency platform as a “viable and safe way to invest in crypto,” after signing a $10 million deal with FTX in late December last year.
At the time, Brett Harrison, president of FTX USA, said the partnership with the Warriors provided a secure venue for fans overseas to access the franchise’s exclusive collectibles, enhancing FTX’s ability “to create a positive change, not only domestically but internationally, with one of the most prestigious professional sport franchises in the world.”
Other Celebrities Face a Similar Lawsuit In Miami
As reported by CryptoPotato, the Golden State Warriors paused all promotions related to FTX after news of the platform’s bankruptcy, as many users who believed in the team’s prestige lost millions of dollars in the exchange.
Due to the large number of fans that follow the current NBA champion, the lawsuits have not stopped coming. In addition to Lam’s, the team is facing a class action lawsuit in Miami from FTX US customers, who are suing the team and several celebrities such as quarterback Tom Brady and tennis player Naomi Osaka, among others.
Warriors star player Stephen Curry is another celebrity under public scrutiny. He is being sued in Miami for promoting FTX.
For his part, Kevin O’Leary, better known as “Mr. Wonderful” on the TV show “Shark Tank,” told Business Insider that “what happened is horrible” and that “those responsible should be held accountable.” O’Leary ended his message with a plea to regulators to do their job.
The new CEO of FTX, John J. Ray III, recently said that the exchange suffered a “complete failure of corporate controls” with some mindblowing revelations like the lack of files to archive conversations and meetings, the approval of budgets and expenses with emojis, the lack of proper H.R control, and the lack of daily reconciliation of positions on the blockchain.
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