Ronaldo interview altered to push unregulated cryptocurrency offer

"Did anyone else hear Ronaldo talk about this after his win?" says the caption on a July 4, 2026 post sharing the video to Instagram.

The clip depicts the Portuguese striker saying: "I'm not a big investment advice kind of guy, but if you put every dollar you have into USWR, you'll be very happy at the end of July."

Image

Screenshot of an Instagram post taken July 6, 2026

Similar posts sharing the superstar's purported investment tip spread across platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Threads ahead of Portugal's loss to Spain in the round of 16.

The users shown reacting to Ronaldo follow nearly identical scripts, claiming that investments in a token called "United States Water Reserve" will return big profits.

The clips then direct viewers to check out the website uswr.ai.

Cryptocurrency tokens are digital representations of assets built on existing blockchain technologies.

But David Krause, emeritus associate professor of finance at Marquette University, warned that a famous name and viral social media post is never a substitute for ensuring that a business exists and an endorsement is authentic (archived here).

In the case of Ronaldo, AFP found that the video is altered, and the endorsement is fake.

"With today's AI tools, it's becoming incredibly easy to create convincing fake videos and celebrity endorsements," Krause said in a July 6 email, adding that promises of large returns, prompts to act quickly and purported celebrity hype are "red flags."

Altered audio

A reverse image search surfaced footage from the Spanish sports news site Diario AS of the mixed zone following Portugal's dramatic 2-1 victory over Croatia on July 3.

The video is titled: "Cristiano Ronaldo's Emotional Tribute to Luka Modrić after Portugal vs Croatia" (archived here).

In it, Ronaldo answered questions in Portuguese before switching to English to respond to a query about his former club teammate, Croatia's captain Luka Modrić.

"I spoke with him. He's a legend of football. I played so many years together with him in Real Madrid. I wish him all the best, and I hope he continue to play," he said.

At no point did he discuss investment advice. It is clear from his facial expression, as well as the positioning of the people around him, that the footage shows the same moment used in the posts promoting the token, but they have altered the audio.

Image

Screenshot taken from YouTube on July 7, 2026 with elements outlined by AFP

Image

Screenshot taken from Threads on July 7, 2026 with elements outlined by AFP

The Hiya.com voice-cloning detection tool, within the InVID Verification Plugin, found the portion of the altered video where Ronaldo speaks about USWR to be "likely AI-generated."

Image

Screenshot of an analysis by Hiya.com taken July 6, 2026

Torab Torabi, CEO of the blockchain company Movement, said people need to verify that a product is truly promoted by the celebrity or influencer who appears to be pushing the token (archived here).

"If anyone is actually endorsing it, there's basically a 99 percent chance, if not higher, that they would post it from their own socials," he said on July 7.

But there is no mention of USWR on Ronaldo's official website or verified social media accounts, where he has advertised other products.

Unreliable offer

Marquette's Krause further questioned claims on the uswr.ai website regarding federally secured water.

"If someone claims an investment is federally backed or secured, they should be able to clearly identify which government agency provides that protection," Krause said. "If they can't, investors should be very cautious about possible scams."

Keyword searches did not return any federal results for the purported "Strategic Water Reserve Act" touted on the website, though an unrelated bill with that name that passed in the state of New Mexico in 2025 (archived here).

Fine print at the bottom of the website says the "community-issued reserve token" is not affiliated with "any agency of the US government."

Hilary Allen, professor at the American University Washington College of Law and financial technology expert, told AFP that all cryptocurrency investments require caution (archived here).

There are "no barriers to entry" for people to create tokens, she said July 7. The lack of regulation, plus the fact that blockchain transactions cannot be reversed, makes them "a magnet for scammers."

She also said many people fail to recognize the difference between traditional investments -- in which companies pay dividends or money is held in federally-backed savings accounts -- and the much riskier crypto asset market where coins and tokens lose value rapidly.

More of AFP's reporting on misinformation involving Ronaldo is available here.