The now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX had planned a tour sponsorship agreement with Taylor Swift worth up to $100 million. After her team signed the agreement, however, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried backed out, leaving Swift’s team “frustrated and disappointed.”
Previous reports had suggested Swift had pulled out of the deal instead, after asking FTX to prove its cryptocurrencies were not unregistered securities. However, lawyer Adam Moskowitz, who is handling a class action lawsuit against FTX promoters, has denied having any inside information about the talks.
News of the potential partnership had first emerged in December, when FTX was facing a liquidity crisis and unable to fulfill customer deposits. It later led to Bankman-Fried and his associates facing allegations of using customer funds to support his trading firm, Alameda Research, and for personal investments. Bankman-Fried then left the firm, and FTX is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings.
In a separate case, a class action lawsuit was filed against FTX promoters such as Shaquille O’Neal and Tom Brady. Other celebrities listed in the lawsuit include Kevin O’Leary, Golden State Warriors, David Ortiz, Naomi Osaka, and more.
FTX’s new leadership team has managed to recover around $7 billion in liquid assets, which includes filing a complaint to retrieve the $700 million Bankman-Fried transferred to K5 entities in 2022. The exchange had owed customers $8.7 billion at the time of its bankruptcy.
