John Reed Stark suggested the NBA should prohibit crypto sponsorships, just as if a team partnered with “a heroin manufacturing firm or a blood diamond mining company.”
John Reed Stark, the former internet enforcement chief for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has sided with aggrieved crypto investors in a lawsuit against the National Basketball Association (NBA).
In a Feb. 8 X post, Stark criticized the NBA for approving a partnership between defunct cryptocurrency exchange Voyager Digital and the Dallas Mavericks, resulting in a class-action lawsuit from investors. The partnership between Voyager and the NBA team, announced in October 2021, came as the crypto exchange allegedly made false claims regarding investor protection.
“[In my humble opinion], by partnering with Voyager, the Mavs not only shamelessly exploited their fans and players by shilling crypto FOMO and diamond hands, but the Mavs also share culpability for the devastation that Voyager wreaked upon its investors,” said Stark. “Think of it this way: if the Washington Wizards decided to partner with a heroin manufacturing firm or a blood diamond mining company, the NBA would certainly step in and prohibit that arrangement. The same should go for crypto-partnerships.”
