Warriors, Steph Curry being sued along with Tom Brady, others over FTX endorsement

The Golden State Warriors and star Stephen Curry are named among a list of other high-profile backers in a class-action lawsuit filed this week following the swift collapse of cryptocurrency firm FTX, which filed for bankruptcy last week.

FTX and its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, were sued over claims the platform targeted “unsophisticated investors” using celebrity endorsers including Curry, the Warriors, Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen and Shaquille O’Neal.

“FTX’s fraudulent scheme was designed to take advantage of unsophisticated investors from across the country, who utilize mobile apps to make their investments,” Oklahoma resident Edwin Garrison said in a complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in South Florida. “As a result, American consumers collectively sustained over $11 billion dollars in damages.”

Garrison seeks to represent a class representing “thousands, if not millions, of consumers nationwide,” including all investors in the US who were enrolled in yield-bearing FTX cryptocurrency accounts, which he alleges constitute unregistered securities.

“Although many incriminating FTX emails and texts have already been destroyed, we located them,” Garrison’s legal team claimed in the 41-page complaint.

Garrison alleges that FTX used celebrity endorsers — who are also named as defendants — to funnel investors into a Ponzi scheme and to promote its unregistered securities.

The Warriors, who had shown in-arena ads for the cryptocurrency platform after launching a partnership with it earlier this year, paused all FTX-related promotional assets this week in the wake of the troubled company filing for bankruptcy. A Jordan Poole bobblehead given to the first 10,000 fans at Monday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, which was planned in advance of last week’s news, would be the last FTX promotion in connection with the reigning champs, the team said.

A spokesperson for the Warriors said they don’t comment on pending litigation.

Curry was featured in a nationwide ad campaign for the cryptocurrency platform, saying: “I’m not an expert, and I don’t need to be. With FTX, I have everything I need to buy, sell, and trade crypto safely.”

Brady, the NFL star and San Mateo native, and his then-wife Bundchen filmed a commercial called “FTX. You In?” that showed them encouraging acquaintances to join the FTX platform, according to the complaint.

The case is Garrison v. Bankman-Fried, 22-cv-23753, US District Court, Southern District of Florida (Miami).

Bloomberg contributed to this report.