SuperRare


                    
                    The soccer star’s Binance-tied NFTs allegedly promoted investments in unregistered securities on the crypto exchange.
                    Pro-soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has been hit with a proposed class-action lawsuit from plaintiffs claiming they suffered losses from his promotion of the now-legally embroiled crypto exchange Binance.A Nov. 27 filing to a Florida District Court claimed Ronaldo “promoted, assisted in, and/or actively participated in the offer and sale of unregistered securities in coordination with Binance.”Binance entered a multi-year partnership with Ronaldo in mid-2022 to promote a series of his own nonfungible tokens (NFT), of which he has at least three collections tied to Binance.The complaint claims users who signed up for Ronaldo’s NFTs were more likely to use Binance for other purposes — including investing in what they claimed were unregistered securities, including Binance’s BNB (BNB) and its crypto yield programs.“Ronaldo’s promotions solicited or assisted Binance in soliciting investments in unregistered securities by encouraging his millions of followers, fans, and supporters to invest with the Binance platform.”Ronaldo was a key part of Binance’s growing popularity due to his influence and reach, with 850 million followers across social media, says the complaint. They allege his NFT sales were “incredibly successful” at promoting the exchange, with a 500% increase in searches for “Binance” the week following the initial sale.Cooking something up with @binance https://t.co/FMAP5GAdxE— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) November 28, 2023


The suit alleges Ronaldo knew or should have known “about Binance selling unregistered crypto securities” as he has “investment experience and vast resources to obtain outside advisers.”Related: Why Binance’s US plea deal could be positive for crypto adoptionThe suit cited Securities and Exchange Commission guidance, which warned celebrities of the need to disclose payments received for promoting cryptocurrencies — which the complaint claims Ronaldo didn’t do.The class action plaintiffs are Michael Sizemore, Mikey Vongdara and Gordon Lewis, who seek damages and funds to cover legal fees.Meanwhile, Binance and founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is facing their own legal woes, pleading guilty and paying a $4.3 billion settlement to the United States on money laundering charges and running an unregistered money-transmitting business.Zhao stepped down as CEO and faces up to 18 months in prison. Binance agreed to up to five years of Justice Department and Treasury compliance monitoring. The SEC has sued Binance claiming — among other charges — that it sold unregistered securities and is reportedly investigating if Binance misappropriated customer funds.Magazine: NFT Creator: DMT and a Hellboy outfit — How diewiththemostlikes got on SuperRare

Cristiano Ronaldo sued for promoting Binance, unregistered securities


                    
                    Relentless & funny NFT Creator diewiththemostlikes says “good meat” instead of “gm!” and got on SuperRare thanks to DMT and a Hellboy outfit.
                    Mark Wilson  the artist known as diewiththemostlikes  has a truly unique style to his art and a presence that could be described as grotesque, performative, thought-provoking and hilarious all in one packet of rolled-up ground beef.In a digital art market where supply can be infinite, the Indiana-based artist really stands out from the crowd with his ability to garner attention by often ridiculing the NFT space and eliciting both humor and sadness within his work.An author of five books, diewiththemostlikes has a passion for not only visual art but also scribing his streams of consciousness. He originally minted his first NFT on March 26, 2021, on Foundation after a random account on X reached out because Wilson had made a joke campaign poster for comedian Eric Andre that went viral.This dude reached out and just said, Hey, I have a Foundation invite. Would you want to mint a piece on there? I said I dont know what minting is. I dont know what Foundation is. I have no clue what any of this shit is, Diewiththemostlikes explains.He said, It could be a good avenue for your digital art, so I said, Well, fuck it, man. Its not like Im not doing anything with it now. Its getting two likes on Instagram from fucking porn bots. So, whatever, Ill mint something, and maybe I can sell something finally as an artist  that would be nice. It was a relatively slow start, but consistency and persistence positioned him well, and hes often received praise from other well-known artists such as OSF. Now knocking on the door of digital art stardom, diewiththemostlikes still hasnt come to grips with the position he finds himself in.I still honestly cant really wrap my head around this shit thats going on. I just assumed I was gonna die alone doing something I hated. To be part of this kind of movement with all these other really insane artists who are on this crazy trajectory and who are constantly leveling up is really cool. Its pretty wild, he says.Our memories were beef too by Diewiththemostlikes. (SuperRare)Origin of catchy and cumbersome name How did the name diewiththemostlikes come about? Well, in classic die fashion, theres humor and an underlying meaning.Ive got the most common name to ever exist, Mark Wilson. When I was applying for apartments, people would think it was a scammer name because Mark Wilson is a super common name here in the States. They would do a background check and think I was a fake person. Im cool with my name… But diewiththemostlikes kind of came in, and its funny because its actually a really cumbersome name to say. A lot of people during interviews will ask what they even call me. Its a really long and kind of an unenjoyable name to say, but I suppose that I find comfort in that. Discomfort, if you will, or the inability to kind of determine what I should be called is awesome.The name pokes fun at a world where we seek likes on social media for dopamine hits, which Wilson points out is a transactional existence.Its a really interesting distillation of our transactional existence as a whole and kind of how fucking sad and depressing it can be in many ways. But also the beauty of it, obviously, none of us would be here; we wouldnt be talking here without Twitter. Certainly, my art wouldnt be doing what it was doing, or I wouldnt be able to impact anybody without a platform.Big! Election Day! by Diewiththemostlikes. (onetie-alltie.com)Finding a story in peculiar placesObserving society and its idiosyncrasies is a big inspiration, and his work often carries open or sometimes subliminal messages that make collectors really stop and think.Of course, always the prankster with a dry sense of humor, diewiththemostlikes is quick to tie a bow around it with some over-the-top window dressing.I would say theres stories in the most peculiar places. Theres a story in every sagging ass of anyone walking around the fucking dregs of this country, he says. Within those kinds of nuanced little wrinkles, scabs and wounds is where I thrive and where I love to exist.This lens on life and humanity is often exaggerated… If you look a little deeper on my pieces, theyre definitely documentarian but certainly grotesque at a very surface level.Regarding the inhalation of failing dreams by Diewiththemostlikes. (SuperRare)Good meat! Sublime satireThe tsunami of crypto X accounts posting gm led to a series of meat art. Good meat originally arose out of a place of complete ridicule, which is where a lot of my art I feel like comes from. Its satire; its ridicule; its hilarity. I was really annoyed with the transactional state of everybody just saying gm, with nothing else to say. It was gm with a fucking coffee mug, and that was it. Then you just see gm, gm, gm, gm. It was just like, What the fuck are we all doing here? This is insane, dude, says Wilson.So, then I kind of came up with good meat as a way to ridicule that, and I was posting art with the pieces originally, and then it kind of transitioned into now. Im just gonna post meat pictures now because that fits the kind of dull exchange. The dull morning exchange that we all participate in.good meat. pic.twitter.com/XTAame5flz— die with the most likes (@toadswiback) November 14, 2023Its just like heres a big heaving pile of rotting meat. Enjoy it or dont enjoy it. Its all good. But its funny because now people will say good meat back, or theyll have their own good meat-inspired post, and its fucking super cool. I love that meat is infecting the space in some capacity.      Read also                                                                              Features                            Dictators turn delegates: Former CEOs grapple with DAO governance                                                                                                                    Features                            Soulbound Tokens: Social credit system or spark for global adoption?                                            Notable sales to dateWe saved our marriage sold for 8 ETH ($22,900 equivalent on date of sale) on April 29, 2022. (SuperRare)After the streetlights stopped grieving sold for 12 ETH ($22,300 equivalent on date of sale) on June 2, 2023. (SuperRare)Precious moments sold for 12 ETH ($19,900 equivalent on date of sale) on June 16, 2023. (SuperRare)Rapid-fire Q&AInfluencesI dont have a ton, honestly, and most of that is just because I dont have any art background. I would actually say, growing up, most of my influence was actually in the books I was reading. People like Irvine Welsh, Haruki Murakami, Michel Houellebecq, and, of course, Hunter S. Thompson. All those kinds of absurdists are where I love to dwell.I should obviously mention Ralph Steadman, who is a fucking incredible illustrator. When I got into this space, somebody said, Your stuff reminds me of Ralph Steadman, and I think thats incredible.      Read also                                                                              Features                            Moral responsibility: Can blockchain really improve trust in AI?                                                                                                                    Features                            Attack of the zkEVMs! Cryptos 10x moment                                            Personal style of artI think one word I would use is relentless. The style itself its funny; I never took an art class in high school and was described as adequate. Thats really the extent of my art history. I didnt study art. Its more or less I bludgeoned my way into making these things. Its been like 20,000 hours on the iPad and in my basement making canvases and acrylic.Its just bludgeoning stuff out that I feel like has to come out or else itll rob me from the inside, so relentless and unflinching, I guess, are the two words that I would use. Theres almost a psychotic pursuit and an urgency to what I want to tell people.Which hot NFT artists should we be paying attention to? Xer0x  I feel like hes massively slept on, like horrifically slept on in many ways. Thats a guy whos obsessed with his craft, and he makes super deep, very personal pieces that are true artistic achievements.Alien Queen  Alien Queen is the shit, but shes probably not even up-and-coming anymore. James Bloom  Hes a true blockchain artist. The dude is making these super technical and really fucking rad pieces that evolve and change based on interactions.Omega by Xer0x. (SuperRare)Notable collector I have to give a massive shout-out to SuperRare Zach. Hes been so nice and cool, and he onboarded me after this crazy absurdist tweet campaign to get on SuperRare. To get accepted to SuperRare, it was essentially a tweet that I sent that said I just submitted my application video.It is me doing DMT and performing How Stella Got Her Groove Back while dressed like Hellboy or something. It was just like an insane tweet, and he just said, This is nuts. Youre on. Id already been putting in work and stuff, but I would say Zach is awesome.Favorite NFT in your wallet Oh, man, I would have to say Pindar Van Arman made this dope ass quantum portrait of me thats super special. Its really goddamn rad. Thats probably my favorite piece that I own. Its a dope-ass piece, and he was so nice to do it. He didnt ask; he just made it. Quantum portrait of Diewiththemostlikes by Pindar Van Arman. (OpenSea)What do you listen to when creating art?I love music. I mean, the absurd part of me would say that I create to Nickelback and Creed and fucking all those other dumb bands. But really, I listen to a shit ton of doom metal and death metal. Bands like Bongripper, Gate Creeper and Withered. Anything thats just slow, grimy and brutal is the only way that you can kind of describe it.Links:X: twitter.com/toadswiback Website: https://onetie-alltie.com/about/     Subscribe    The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a        week.         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DMT and a Hellboy outfit — How diewiththemostlikes got on SuperRare: NFT Creator


                    
                    CoinW executive Sonia Shaw told Cointelegraph that the recent uptick in NFT sales shows a "broader and more profound interest” extending beyond art.
                    In the weeks leading to November, nonfungible token (NFT) data showed a consistent upward leap in weekly sales. While the volume is still far from its peak in 2021, executives in the industry believe the upward trend will likely continue. On Nov. 6, data published by blockchain analytics firm Nansen showed that NFT sales volume leaped from $56 million in the week ending on Oct. 9 to $129 million in the week ending on Nov. 6. NFT sales volume data in the last year. Source: NansenAccording to Jonathan Perkins, the co-founder of NFT marketplace SuperRare, this trend is likely to continue for the coming months. The executive believes that the worst has passed and is expecting upward swings shortly. He said: “I think the worst of the NFT-hangover-induced bear market is behind us, and things are turning around. Marketplace volume will always be volatile, but I expect a massive upward macro trend in the next six months.” Perkins also believes that the downturn in NFTs was “purely sentiment.” The SuperRare co-founder told Cointelegraph in a statement that in the past 18 months, nothing “inherently went wrong” with NFTs. “NFTs are a fundamental advancement in the internet because they introduce traceable origin and ownership to digital objects. This unlocks a new online creator economy that can be 100x bigger than Web2,” he added. The executive also believes that in the long term, NFTs will be a big part of the online economy and the space will see volumes that “eclipse those of the last cycle.”Top NFT collections by 30-day sales volume. Source: CryptoSlamCommenting on the topic, Sonia Shaw, partner and vice president of partnership at digital asset exchange CoinW, said that the recent growth in NFT sales reflects a "broader and more profound interest" that extends beyond art and collectibles. Shaw told Cointelegraph that NFTs represent a significant shift in digital and physical asset management. She explained: “Their application in verifying the authenticity of unique and valuable items across industries is pivotal. [...] NFTs are an essential part of the evolving digital economy, especially with their integration into Web 3.0 and the metaverse.”Shaw also highlighted that potential use cases for NFTs could revolutionize industries such as identity management, real estate, healthcare, finance and supply chain logistics. While the executive believes in the role of NFTs in advancing digital ownership, Shaw also told Cointelegraph that it’s essential for players to also be mindful of the challenges. This includes regulatory considerations, environmental impact and security issues.Related: NFTs in the academy: Fighting fake credentials and unfair wagesMeanwhile, Oscar Franklin Tan, the chief financial officer of NFT platform Enjin, echoed the sentiments. Making a case for NFTs, Tan highlighted that NFTs have already been established as a unique digital asset class entirely separate from crypto. The executive also told Cointelegraph that many investors entering the digital asset space back in 2021 were interested primarily in NFTs. Furthermore, Tan also pointed out that NFT communities like the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Azuki have “remained intact” despite the bear market. As more investors come into crypto, they may also eventually dive into NFTs. “Renewed interest in Bitcoin and Ethereum will necessarily spread to blue chip NFTs and newer collections, including gaming NFTs,” Tan added. Magazine: China’s surprise NFT move, Hong Kong’s $15M Bitcoin fund: Asia Express