Taylor Swift Takes Stand Against Shady Crypto Deals, Walks Away From $100 Million

A recent report by Business Insider revealed that Taylor Swift pulled out of a $100 million sponsorship deal with Sam Bankman-Fried and his crypto exchange, FTX. The popular singer was the only celebrity to question the crypto exchange’s compliance with regulations regarding unregistered securities.

The information was disclosed by Adam Moskowitz, the lawyer handling a class-action lawsuit against several FTX promoters, including Shaquille O’Neal, Tom Brady, and Larry David. Moskowitz disclosed that the plaintiffs seek over $5 billion from FTX’s celebrity endorsers.

The FTX Crypto Debacle Continues To Reverberate

The complaint against FTX executives, filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December 2022, alleged that FTX’s cryptocurrency, FTT, was sold as an investment contract and was not appropriately registered as a security with the SEC. The lawsuit filed by Moskowitz seeks to recover damages for customers who lost money due to investing in FTX.

However, while several celebrities endorsed FTX, Moskowitz revealed that Taylor Swift was the only celebrity to question the compliance of the crypto exchange with regulations regarding unregistered securities. Moskowitz praised Swift for her diligence in reviewing the proposed sponsorship deal and for refusing to compromise on the issue of unregistered securities.

Per the report, the plaintiffs claim that the celebrity endorsers of FTX misled people by promoting the exchange without disclosing important risks associated with investing in the crypto market. This includes that FTX was not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and allegedly failed to comply with regulations regarding unregistered securities.

The terms of the proposed deal included selling tickets as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a move considered risky by FTX’s marketing staff, who thought the deal was too expensive from the beginning.

Furthermore, Moskowitz added that during discovery, Swift asked FTX to confirm that the proposed securities were not unregistered, demonstrating her understanding of the risks associated with investing in the crypto market.