Taylor Swift, the iconic singer, rejected a $100 million FTX sponsorship deal at a time when other popular celebrities were promoting the exchange. Her lawyer reported that the reason for this was the concerns she had regarding unregistered securities. Caring about her audience and the law did work out for her as she didn’t face a lawsuit like many other celebrities, including Shaw, Tom Brady, and more.
What are unregistered securities, and how is crypto involved with it?
Unregistered securities are financial instruments, such as stocks, bonds, or other investment contracts, that have not been registered with the appropriate regulatory authorities, typically the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States, as required by securities laws. It is important because registering security and giving the required information to the authorities allow the investors to get a better idea of whether to invest in the same.
Now, where does crypto come in when we are talking about stocks and bonds? Well, directly, they aren’t, but if you look at it from the perspective of the SEC, then they might be. The Securities and Exchange Commission of the US is claiming most of the cryptocurrencies to be securities. And since they are not registered as such, that makes them unregistered securities.
Why did Taylor Swift reject the $100 million FTX sponsorship?
Unlike most other celebrities, Taylor didn’t just say yes to promoting the platform at first sight of the huge offer. She did her due diligence when the problem of unregistered securities caught her eye. And it did turn out to be a good decision, with FTX now having gone bankrupt, investors losing billions of dollars, and celebrities facing lawsuits. Adam Moskowitz shared this information regarding how Taylor Swift navigated the offer. He is one of the attorneys who is leading a $5 million lawsuit against the celebrities that endorsed FTX.
Adam said that when Taylor was given the sponsorship offer, she talked with her lawyer before rejecting it. In fact, she asked the FTX officials directly whether they could claim if the platform is not listing unregistered securities. According to Adam, she was the only person who took this approach. If Taylor had accepted the offer, she would have been another face of the platform and would have been paid $100 million over the course of the next 3 years.
After this news broke out, even Elon Musk tweeted about the same. He praised her, saying, “I’m not surprised. Taylor is smart and her father is a well-regarded investment banker.” In the past, even Elon rejected an offer from FTX founder Sam-Bankman Fried when he tried to invest in the exchange.
Celebrities that endorsed FTX
Some popular names in the list, as mentioned above, are Shaquille O’Neal (Shaq), a former pro basketball player, Tom Brady, an American football quarterback, and Larry David, a popular American Comedian. All of them have been mentioned in the class-action lawsuit for promoting FTX, which was supposedly a pyramid scheme that resulted in billions of dollars in losses affecting at least thousands of investors.
Apart from these popular celebrities, there are many others like Giselle Bundchen, Steph Curry, and Naomi Osaka, who promoted FTX and are now part of the class-action lawsuit.
Sometimes when you are being paid a lot, it’s wise to consider why that is the case. What are your thoughts as Taylor Swift rejected the $100 million FTX sponsorship? And do you think most celebrities don’t care about anything except money? Let us know in the comments below. Also, if you found our content informative, do like and share it with your friends.
Also Read: Robert Kiyosaki is bullish on Bitcoin, expects the price to keep rising.
