--- title: "NBA Sued Mid-Season For Pushing Mark Cuban’s Crypto Scams" description: "As the NBA season heats up, the association itself is being sued for approving Mark Cuban's crypto deal with the Mavericks." date: "2024-02-09" modified: "2024-02-09" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nba-sued-mark-cuban-crypto" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" tags: - "mark cuban" - "nba" - "the digest" - "voyager" --- # NBA Sued Mid-Season For Pushing Mark Cuban’s Crypto Scams ![]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Cuban Links It's sportsball season in America, and the National Basketball Association is being sued, by pissed-off investors who lost billions over a cryptocurrency scam promoted by the Dallas Mavericks at the behest of its former owner \[and *Shark Tank* star\] Mark Cuban. The new class action lawsuit, [filed in the US District Court of Southern Florida]() on behalf of shafted investors who put their money into the (now-defunct) Voyager crypto exchange, is accusing the NBA not only of gross negligence but also for making crypto schemes seem more legit than they were. At the center of the suit was the NBA's approval of [Cuban's deal with Voyager](), which [went belly-up in July 2022]() and took with it a bunch of investor funds. "There is no dispute that the NBA was to serve as the 'gatekeeper', and required to affirmatively approve any and all NBA promotion and marketing campaigns, especially with crypto currency," the suit reads. "Evidence now reveals that the NBA was not only grossly negligent with its review of the proposed Voyager/Mavericks Global Partnership, but the NBA’s decision to affirmatively approve FTX sponsoring the Miami Heat Arena...was one of the most important steps, in the dramatic rise of cryptocurrency across the country, and across the globe." ## Double Jeopardy It's a pretty bold set of claims, and to be fair, they've [been made before](). Not long after Voyager collapsed, disgruntled investor Dominik Karnas, who serves as a class representative on the more recent filing, [sued Cuban, the Mavericks](), and the exchange's former CEO Stephen Ehrlich for "\[duping\] millions of Americans into investing — in many cases, their life savings — into the Deceptive Voyager Platform." "The NBA’s widespread promotion of Voyager’s unregistered securities," the suit reads, "renders it liable for any and all resulting damages." This year's lawsuit also names Voyager's attorneys, McCarter & English, as defendants, accusing the firm of producing "fraudulent legal opinions" and contributing to an alleged conspiracy to push the exchange and crypto in general. While it's from the first lawsuit [brought by irked investors]() [bilked out of their money]() by one of crypto's many get-rich-quick schemes, these Karnas cases prove that that individual, at very least, has the drive and/or capital to file a bunch of complaints over the wrongs he believes he suffered. It may not be pretty, and the plaintiff may not have been smart, but as they say down in Florida, that man is doing the Lord's work. **More on crypto:** [*Attempt to Reboot FTX Fails Miserably*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()