YouTuber and NBA Player Settle Securities Claims

YouTuber Ben Armstrong and Miami Heat player Jimmy Butler have reached a settlement regarding claims they promoted unregistered securities by accepting payments from Binance.

Both agreed to pay $340,000 in settlement, pending court approval. The class-action lawsuit, filed in March 2023, accused them and Binance of causing damages to consumers. Both defendants denied any wrongdoing, as reported by Bloomberg.

“Plaintiffs have worked diligently to litigate these claims to benefit all Binance victims. Today, those efforts begin to bear fruit,” said the plaintiffs’ lawyers in a filing on Monday.

The lawsuit alleged that Butler and Armstrong promoted Binance, solicited new customers, and received commissions in return. It also claimed that cryptocurrencies like BNB and BUSD were categorized as securities.

This lawsuit followed the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) suing Binance for unregistered trading activity, stating that they attempted to evade the law. Subsequently, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Binance of misleading customers about its legal operations in the U.S.

Earlier this month, the CFTC issued a subpoena to the Hit Network, the crypto-focused media company that had Armstrong as a public face, requesting information on trading activities and digital wallets connected to 15 tokens. This is part of an investigation into fraudulent conduct in digital currencies.