Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler, crypto influencer Ben Armstrong to pay $340K to settle Binance class action

Binance class action overview: 

• Who: Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler and crypto influencer Ben Armstrong have agreed to pay a $340,000 class action settlement.
• Why: The settlement ends claims that the pair promoted unregistered securities on the cryptocurrency exchange.
• Where: The settlement was filed in a Florida federal court.

Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler and crypto influencer Ben Armstrong have agreed to pay $340,000 to settle class action claims involving Binance investors. 

The proposed settlements — the first set in a series of settlements — was filed by Binance investors on Aug. 19 in a Florida federal court. 

The investors accused Butler and Armstrong of promoting unregistered securities on the cryptocurrency exchange, aiding and abetting its unlawful sales. The investors asked the judge to give preliminary approval to the settlements.

Alleged conspiracy to promote unregistered securities

According to the investors’ class action lawsuit, Butler and Armstrong took part in a conspiracy to promote unregistered securities, misleading them. 

While neither admitted any wrongdoing, Butler agreed to pay $300,000 into a class fund, and Armstrong will contribute $40,000.

The investors called the settlement “reasonable” in light of the inherent risks of litigation. 

Originally filed in April 2023, the lawsuit alleges that Butler and Armstrong received kickbacks and commissions for encouraging investors to buy unregistered securities on Binance. 

Butler, who filed to dismiss the case in July 2023, argued that his social media posts promoting Binance weren’t misleading or designed to solicit investments. 

The settlement agreements were signed in June and September 2023 for Butler and Armstrong, respectively.

The settlement class could include any Binance users who bought or sold its proprietary token, BNB, or stablecoin, BUSD, as well as those who used the platform’s Vault, Simple Earn, or staking programs. It may also cover users who traded specific third-party tokens, potentially including over a million class members.

The promoter claims against Butler and Armstrong are part of a larger lawsuit involving Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao, which focuses on the company’s compliance and anti-money laundering practices, Law360 reports. Binance is currently pushing for arbitration to resolve the claims against it.

Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo is also facing a class action lawsuit over his promotion of Binance Holdings, which is accused of being a sham crypto platform that has allowed fraud and violation of federal money laundering laws.

What do you think of the settlement in this cryptocurrency class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.

The investors are represented by Adam M. Moskowitz and Joseph M. Kaye of the Moskowitz Law Firm PLLC and David Boies of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. 

The Miami Heat cryptocurrency class action lawsuit is Michael Sizemore et al. v. Zhao et al. Case No. 1:23-cv-21261, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

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