- Kim Kardashian will pay $1.26 million to the SEC over undisclosed promotion
- The famous woman was paid $250,000 to promote EthereumMax, but didn’t disclose it
- Kardashian is worth some $1.28 billion, so the fine is mere pocket change
Kim Kardashian has become the most high profile celebrity yet to be charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for promoting a cryptocurrency, after agreeing to settle over her promotion of EthereumMax on social media. Kardashian, who is thought to be worth some $1.8 billion, will pay the pocket change to the SEC as well as assisting it with its “ongoing investigation” into the project, which is accused of orchestrating a pump and dump, after she was accused of not disclosing that she was paid to promote the shitcoin.
Celebrities Didn’t Disclose Payments
EthereumMax was unknown to the crypto world until it burst onto the scene around the first top in May 2021, roping in various celebrities, including Kardashian, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr and basketball player Paul Pierce, to promote it to their followers. This they all did, with none of them revealing that they had been paid six-figure sums to do so.
A class action lawsuit against the three celebrity promoters, and the scam’s creators, Steve Gentile and Giovanni Perone, claims that no whitepaper was ever produced for the project, and its only intention was to make its founders money. This it undoubtedly did, with the EMAX token performing the usual swan dive after the use of celebrities worked:
No Action Yet For Mayweather and Pierce
The SEC hasn’t mentioned anything formal with regards to Mayweather and Pierce, but similar action to that taken against Kardashian is expected, unless either of the pair can prove that they revealed that they had been paid for their promotional activities, which doesn’t seem to be the case.
Mayweather has been in trouble before over touting shitcoins, most notably with Centra Tech, and it seems that some people just don’t learn…or will do anything for a pay day.
