Losses incurred by investors in the crypto exchange Voyager, which disappeared last year, could cost the NBA dearly. Indeed, a group of disgruntled investors has filed a class action lawsuit against the North American basketball league, accusing it of complicity in Voyager’s promotion of “unregistered securities”, causing over $4.2 billion in losses.
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The NBA under fire for its agreements with Voyager
The prestigious National Basketball Association (NBA) finds itself in turmoil following the collapse of the crypto exchange platform Travel in 2022. A group of over 100 platform investors accuses it of having demonstrated “gross negligence at approving a promotional agreement between Voyager and the Dallas Mavericks franchise owned until 2022 by the billionaire Mark Cuban.
According to the complaint, filed in a Miami court on February 6, the NBA’s mission was to “serve as a gatekeeper” and guarantee the reliability of the crypto companies it partnered with. Yet it allegedly deliberately turned a blind eye to the risks associated with platforms like Voyager, out of greed.
This lawsuit is simply about holding the NBA accountable. The NBA’s widespread promotion of Voyager’s unregistered titles makes it liable for all resulting damages.
Plaintiffs’ Statement
They also accuse NBA to have compensated for its losses due to the pandemic by promoting unregistered Travel with investors.
Mark Cuban, singled out for his close links with Voyager
The other central figure in this affair is none other than the billionaire and former owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban. By 2021, he had forged a 5-year partnership between the Mavericks and Travel, making the platform’s token the franchise’s official crypto.
Mark Cuban has for years been publicly extolling the virtues of Travel, claiming it was the safest platform for investing in cryptocurrencies. The plaintiffs therefore accuse it of knowingly misleading investors about the real solidity of Voyager.
A complaint had already been filed at the end of 2022 against Mark Cuban for these false statements, which he categorically denies. The new lawsuit extends the proceedings to the NBA, believing that it failed to oversee this dubious agreement properly between one of its franchises and a risky platform.
In addition to the NBA and Cuban, the law firm McCarter & English, which advised Voyager, is also named in the complaint. It is accused of providing “fraudulent legal advice”, including falsely assuring that Voyager‘s token was not a financial security requiring registration.
This latest lawsuit comes against a backdrop of intense criticism of the NBA for its risky deals with controversial crypto players. The league is already facing other lawsuits for its partnership with FTX, a platform that also disappeared in 2022, causing the ruin of many investors. The image of the NBA and its franchises risks being permanently tarnished.
As a journalist at Coinpri, I’ve been captivated by the world of bitcoin and blockchain since 2020. The decentralized aspect of Bitcoin particularly piqued my interest. Since then, I’ve been working constantly to spread my knowledge, hoping one day to see a world where everyone fully enjoys their financial freedom.
