Mercedes, Formula 1 and MLB accused of FTX fraud

In November 2022, the crypto exchange FTX collapses, resulting in billions in losses. Now investors are suing advertising partners Mercedes, Formula One and Major League Baseball.

Investors have now set their sights on even more targets in a lawsuit against the insolvent crypto exchange FTX. Among them: Major League Baseball (MLB), Formula 1 and the racing team Mercedes-Benz Group AG. Prosecutors accuse these organizations of being actively involved in the FTX Group's "massive, global billion-dollar fraud."

Complicity in active participation

The U.S. baseball league was the first major sports league to sign an advertising deal with the crypto exchange in 2021. As Bloomberg reports, the MLB is now accused of "aiding and abetting active participation" in the FTX fraud. The accusation is that the sports organization promoted the sale of unregulated securities. Before MLB ended the advertising deal in 2022 following the crypto exchange's bankruptcy, umpires still wore FTX banners on their sleeves, for example, according to the report.

Formula One and the Mercedes team also accused

Formula One and the "Mercedes Formula One Racing Team" also supported the sale of unregulated securities through advertising deals with the crypto exchange, prosecutors allege.

The plaintiffs allege that the defendants willfully ignored warning signals to take advantage of public enthusiasm for FTX's own cryptocurrency (FTT). "MLB and many others quickly jumped into the world of cryptocurrencies when they realized the potential for fast money," the investors' lawyers said in the lawsuit.