Kim Kardashian was fined US$1.26 million by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for advertising EthereumMax on her Instagram page without disclosing that she had received $250,000 for it. She also agreed not to advertise crypto asset securities for the next three years.
The SEC announced that it has indicted the reality TV star and social media influencer “for touting on social media a crypto asset security without disclosing the payment she received for the promotion.”
Kim Kardashian “agreed to settle the charges, pay US$1.26 million in penalties, disgorgement, and interest and cooperate” with the ongoing investigation, according to the SEC.
Her lawyer said she was relieved to have reached a settlement with the SEC and that she had cooperated fully with the SEC from the outset and was willing to do everything in her power to help the SEC on the issue.
In January, investors sued Kardashian, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr, basketball player Paul Pierce, and the creators of EthereumMax for misleadingly promoting and selling the cryptocurrency EthereumMax in a pump-and-dump program aimed at driving up the price before selling it to investors.
Kardashian paid the fine, according to the SEC, “without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings.”
The sources for this piece include an article in BBC.