Shirtum crypto fraud: footballers face €24M losses
A Barcelona criminal complaint alleges Shirtum crypto fraud could cost investors over €24M (about $28M). The case targets six former Sevilla FC players: Papu Gómez, Lucas Ocampos, Ivan Rakitić, Nico Pareja, Alberto Moreno, and Javier Saviola (with additional alleged involvement from Diego Perotti and Marcelo Guedes).
Investors claim Shirtum sold “filmic NFTs” for ~€450 each, but the assets were never minted on-chain, were not transferable or resellable, and effectively amounted to a simulation. The complaint also says a mobile app promised to investors was never built, while about €3M in BNB collected for development was not returned.
A second alleged layer involves the project token $SHI. The complaint says promoters and accused footballers received 78% of the 1B $SHI supply (780M tokens) for free, then sold them to retail investors on PancakeSwap at inflated prices. It further claims liquidity was permanently removed from PancakeSwap in July 2025, driving the token price down; $SHI reportedly trades around $0.00003329 and is described as effectively worthless.
Barcelona’s Court of Instruction No. 5 is investigating, and Spanish police have already started a related probe. The expanded complaint may lead to additional charges as prosecutors consider both NFT fraud and token pump-and-dump allegations connected to Shirtum.
Bearish
This is a bearish headline for traders because it reinforces a classic risk pattern: when allegations combine “fake NFT” non-onchain delivery with a related token pump-and-dump, it increases the probability of arrests, exchange delistings, and sudden liquidity/price collapses. In the short term, tokens and similar DeFi/NFT collectibles can face risk-off selling, higher stablecoin/fiat preference, and wider spreads as traders price in enforcement and follow-on lawsuits.
In the longer term, persistent enforcement around projects that advertise NFT utility without real minting can pressure speculative demand and reduce retail appetite for hype-driven launches. Similar past cases in crypto—where token liquidity is removed and courts later unwind promotional claims—typically lead to prolonged distrust, “de-risking” by market makers, and lower fundraising multiples for comparable schemes.
For this specific market context, $SHI reportedly no longer trades and is described as near-worthless. Even though the news is about one project, it can still weigh sentiment toward low-liquidity BSC/DEX tokens and NFT-linked marketing, especially during periods when traders are already sensitive to scam headlines. Expect elevated volatility and more stringent due diligence in the affected niches, rather than broad-market upside.