- Celebrity defendants, including Ben Askren and Rob Gronkowski, have settled in the Voyager Digital class action lawsuit
- The figures have agreed to settlements rather than face court, handing over a combined $1.9 million
- The settlements narrow the remaining defendants to Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks
Settlements have been reached with several celebrity defendants in a Voyager Digital class action lawsuit. Influential figures such as UFC fighter Ben Askren, Nascar driver Landon Cassill, NFL star Rob Gronkowski, and NBA player Victor Oladipo, who were previously implicated as promoters of the Voyager exchange, have agreed to terms that collectively contribute millions to the settlement pool. This leaves Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks as the only remaining defendants in the case, focusing the trial’s attention on their involvement.
Celebrity Endorsers Charged With Misleading Practices
Voyager filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2022 following its financial collapse, leading to a lawsuit being initiated by plaintiffs Dominik Karnas and others the following month. They filed in the Southern District of Florida, asserting that Voyager, along with its promoters and endorsers, including Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks, engaged in misleading practices.
Central to the allegations is the claim that the defendants promoted Voyager as a legitimate investment platform while allegedly knowing the risks and the unstable nature of the investments offered, with the lawsuit claiming that these promotions contributed to the losses suffered by Voyager users when the platform went bankrupt.
Were EPAs Securities?
The case hinged on the legal classification of Voyager’s native VGX tokens and the Earn Program Accounts (EPAs), with plaintiffs claiming that these financial instruments are securities under New Jersey’s Uniform Securities Law (NJUSL) and that their marketing and promotion breached securities regulations.
The trial is scheduled for November 2024, when Cuban and the Mavericks will face allegations primarily concerning their endorsement of Voyager’s financial products. The settlements mean that the settlement pool now stands at $2.4 million.
