In a decision on December 30, 2025, Judge Roy Altman of the of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida dismissed a putative class action lawsuit against Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks basketball team. Karnas v. Cuban, No. 22-cv-22538- Altman (S.D. Fla. Dec. 30, 2025). The suit alleged wrongdoing related to their marketing of a cryptocurrency platform.
Background (from the Complaint)
Voyager Digital, LLC (“Voyager”) launched the “Voyager Platform” in October 2019, presenting itself as a comprehensive gateway for both novice and sophisticated investors to research, manage, trade, and secure cryptocurrencies. By 2022, Voyager had amassed over $5 billion in assets and more than 3.5 million investors. It offered “interest-bearing cryptocurrency accounts” known as “Earned Program Accounts.”
Voyager aggressively promoted its platform through influencers and celebrities, securing endorsement deals with athletes such as NFL star Rob Gronkowski, NBA player Victor Oladipo, and NASCAR driver Landon Cassill. In October 2021, Voyager entered a five-year exclusive partnership with the Dallas Mavericks, paying the team over $25 million to help open accounts and encourage platform use. Mark Cuban, as team owner, played an active role in these negotiations. The Mavericks ran a promotion offering $100 in Bitcoin to anyone who downloaded the Voyager app. Within 48 hours, Voyager saw over 75,000 downloads and more than 5,300 new accounts created in Florida.
Legal Developments
In March 2022, the New Jersey Bureau of Securities issued a Cease-and-Desist Order against Voyager, finding that its Earn Program was not exempt from registration. Voyager’s stock price dropped 25% in a day and over 80% for the year. By July 2022, Voyager declared bankruptcy.
In August 2022, Plaintiffs—individuals who lost money investing through Voyager—sued Mark Cuban, the Mavericks, and the aforementioned athletes, alleging reliance on misrepresentations and omissions about the Voyager Platform. They also claimed the Earn Program constituted the unregistered sale of securities.
Gronkowski, Oladipo, and Cassill settled with the Plaintiffs. Cuban and the Mavericks moved to dismiss the Complaint on multiple grounds. Judge Altman dismissed the lawsuit on the ground the court did not have personal jurisdiction, making it unnecessary for him to reach the merits-based grounds for the motion.
Personal Jurisdiction Tests
The court held that, to establish personal jurisdiction, Plaintiffs had to meet either the “effects” test or the “minimum contacts” test. The effects test required Plaintiffs to show that the Defendants (1) committed an intentional tort, (2) aimed it directly at the forum (Florida), and (3) caused injury in the forum that was reasonably foreseeable.
Plaintiffs sought to meet this test by relying on numerous instances in which Cuban and the Mavericks made false and misleading statements regarding the Voyager Platform to induce investors—both in Florida and across the rest of the U.S. The court explained that, under the law relating to digital activity, unless there is evidence that defendants posted information hoping to reach the forum state or an audience in the forum state specifically, then the effects test is not satisfied. Here, there was no evidence of specific targeting of Florida. Rather than allege that the Defendants made Florida the “focal point” of their promotional campaign, the Complaint made plain that the Defendants aimed to capture the entire United States market, and even an international audience. Thus, Plaintiffs did not meet the effects test.
The key part of the minimum contacts analysis focused on whether the Defendants had “purposely availed” themselves of the privilege of doing business in the forum state. Digital promotions, constitute purposeful availment concerning Florida when, for instance, they involve “banner ads directed at Florida residents, follow-up direct emails sent to Florida residents,” and “SEO efforts intended to maximize performance on search engine results pages to purposefully solicit business from Florida residents.” Here, there was evidence of national campaigns, not those targeted to Florida. In addition, as the court explained, injury to a forum resident is not a sufficient connection to the forum. The court thus found that the Plaintiffs did not satisfy the minimum-contacts test.
As an alternative basis for personal jurisdiction, Plaintiffs also argued that Cuban and the Mavericks “were part of a conspiracy to promote the Voyager Platform and that the co-conspirators defendants, Oladipo and Gronkowski, committed acts in Florida in furtherance of the conspiracy.” This argument failed because, whereas the Plaintiffs alleged that Voyager entered into agreements with (i) Cuban and the Mavericks, (ii) Oladipo, and (iii) Gronkowski, there were no allegations that Cuban and the Mavericks had any relationship (much less an agreement) with Oladipo or Gronkowski.
Instead, Plaintiffs relied on the assumption that the Defendants’ partnership with Voyager somehow made them partners with everyone else who was separately in business with Voyager. But alleging that Voyager entered into one partnership with the Defendants, one partnership with Oladipo, and one partnership with Gronkowski did not itself merge those separate relationships into an agreement that unites all the parties. The Complaint never alleged that Cuban interacted with Oladipo and Gronkowski, discussed Oladipo and Gronkowski with Voyager, or even knew that Oladipo and Gronkowski ever partnered with Voyager. The court thus found that Plaintiffs failed to establish a conspiracy-based theory of jurisdiction.
Holding that there was no basis for personal jurisdiction, the court dismissed the lawsuit. Clearly, Cuban has won this battle. And, more broadly, the case clarifies the importance of where a lawsuit is filed and the difficulty of “hauling” out-of-state defendants into a specific jurisdiction without demonstrating a direct, targeted business connection. At the same time, the dismissal was without prejudice. Thus, Plaintiffs still can bring the lawsuit in a forum that does have personal jurisdiction over Cuban and the Mavericks – with Texas being the most obvious alternative.
