Remember when all of those celebrities were getting paid millions to promote cryptocurrencies and NFTs? It feels like that was happening so long ago, but really it was this year and last year. Kim Kardashian was one of those celebrities being paid to shill for crypto. She used her Instagram to promote EthereumMax to her 330-million-plus followers, then she failed to disclose that paid promotion to the SEC. Now Kim has paid a seven-figure SEC fine and she had to promise the SEC to not promote any cryptocurrency on her social media for three years.
Kim Kardashian’s crypto misadventure has landed her in hot water with federal regulators. The reality TV superstar and influencer has settled Securities and Exchange Commission charges that she failed to disclose a payment she received for touting a crypto asset on her Instagram feed, the agency announced Monday morning.
“This case is a reminder that, when celebrities or influencers endorse investment opportunities, including crypto asset securities, it doesn’t mean that those investment products are right for all investors,” Gary Gensler, chairman of the SEC, said in a news release.
Representatives for Kardashian didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kardashian, who is reportedly worth $1.8 billion, agreed to pay $1.26 million to settle the charges over a promotion on Meta’s Instagram for EthereumMax’s crypto asset, the SEC said. She will also cooperate with an ongoing investigation, and has agreed to not promote crypto securities for three years, the regulator added.
However, Kardashian, who has built a media and lifestyle empire, neither admitted to nor denied the regulator’s findings, the SEC said.
Kardashian has already felt regulatory heat over her EthereumMax promo, which she posted on Instagram in June of last year. She started the post by asking her millions of followers, “ARE YOU INTO CRYPTO??? THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE BUT SHARING WHAT MY FRIENDS JUST TOLD ME ABOUT THE ETHEREUM MAX TOKEN.”
Investors sued her, former NBA star Paul Pierce and superstar boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. earlier this year over their promos for EthereumMax, accusing them of artificially inflating the value of the asset.
The SEC on Monday said Kardashian failed to report that she was paid $250,000 to publish a post about EMAX tokens, a crypto asset offered by EthereumMax. The post, which featured the hashtag ”#ad,” included a link to the EthereumMax website, which gives users instructions about how to buy the tokens, the regulator added. Her failure to disclose the payment was a violation of federal securities laws, the SEC said. She agreed to pay $260,000, which includes the payment she received, plus interest, in addition to the $1 million penalty, the agency added.
[From CNBC]
Oh well. F–k around and find out. I wish all of those crypto-bro celebrities had been smarter about their adventures in crypto, but yeah, it was particularly stupid for Kim. Kim and her carefully curated image and social media didn’t need this mess. What’s wild is that in recent years, Kim has used her social media to almost exclusively promote her own businesses and brands, not paid advertisements for other people’s schemes. At least Kim settled and agreed to the deal her lawyers probably worked out with the SEC.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instagram.
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