Kim Kardashian to pay $1.26 million over crypto promotion

kim Kardashian Floyd Mayweather and some other celebrities are being sued in *** class action lawsuit for promoting ethereum max. The complaint says the influencers caused investors to purchase losing investments at inflated prices. So I think we spoke about on the show and it's so funny David, because you were on the show and we spoke about it. So it's great to have you back for this story when kim posted on her instagram stories showing it area max and she used the hashtag ad. And at that time we said, oh maybe this is going to be okay because she's told her followers that this is an advertisement and we'll wait and see how this pans out. Now. We have this class action lawsuit against kim and Floyd and other people who promoted ethereum max on social media. What I know you've been following this. What do you, what do you think when you read about this class action lawsuit, doesn't have legs? Uh, Yeah, so the first thing to be very clear about here is that this is *** civil action. This is not *** regulatory action. Um, the regulatory action, if it comes will be down the road when you have the sec come after them for, for touting or, or whatever it is. And in that case, it seems more likely that the fact that she put *** little three letter hashtag hashtag *** D ad might protect her *** little bit more. Um, the civil trial is gonna have perhaps looser standards for evidence. Um, just provide some background is easy to drop out here. Um, kim Kardashian charges on the order of like 200 to $300,000 just for to her. Well, for her stories, right? You get an actual instagram post that's gonna be *** million or more, but just the stories that are kind of ephemeral, those are like 203 $100,000 somewhere in there. Um And the person or persons who, what we know about the people behind ethereum max, it doesn't necessarily suggest that they actually had the liquidity to pay that upfront. Um And so one of the big questions here for me is whether it was actually an ad or whether maybe it was something that she did as *** favor for *** friend and then she put that hashtag ad up there as some sort of post facto protection. So hopefully discovery of the civil trial is going to try and determine whether there was an actual payment made to her for an ad because based on what I have seen in terms of her relationship with the actual founders of this project, there may be some reason to believe that there is something that in some way resembles *** criminal conspiracy happening here. Um and I'm phrasing that very carefully, but it is something uh Yeah, so, so basically the question is, was this an actual ad or was this something that kim Kardashian frame doesn't add as *** way to cover up something else. Uh So that's, that's what's on my mind right now, but I saw Naomi's hand go up. Yeah, I've got um I've got *** lot of thoughts about this, so, first of all, I think it's really dumb for people to be suing someone because they bought *** token that went down, you know, you all should be doing more research and not buying things and tokens go up and down, and these are things that, you know, publicly tradable on free markets and uh and the price goes up and down according to the rules of supply and demand. So it's real dumb to sue someone because you lost money and you're like, oh, I should you should make up the difference because I bought at *** certain price that were like, that's the dumbest thing in the world, so I'll just say that, and I think this whole idea of, like, demonizing monetization, like someone if they paid for something, like it's this bad thing and, like, you know, I really dislike that whole narrative. I think it's totally fine for people to be paid to promote things. People do it all the time. You see all these ads for skincare products, you know, you really think that those actresses are using that skin care product, but they're still advertising it. It's literally their job description, that's how they make their money on the other side of things, I do think is completely ethically reprehensible for people, like kim Kardashian to be out there pumping these things that they know their audience doesn't quite understand, um and that they could lose money in, you know, I I think it's really bad when people do that, and you should stop doing that because you're hurting *** lot of people. But it's just *** question of, like, is this *** situation for the government to come in and like start? So when people say, like, you, you advertise this thing, um I don't think it is, I think that uh it's ethically bad and people should be shamed for pumping bad projects or whatnot, and I don't think that people should have the right when they buy *** bad product and then come back and say, well, kim Kardashian told me that it was *** great product and she is the arbiter of truth, and I really trust her opinion because she's such *** crypto expert, like, no, was never crypto expert, If you brought this token on her word, then you're an idiot and you don't deserve to get money in *** lawsuit. Um, so, I mean, just my, my to Satoshi is there, um, things like this kind of kind of bother me. Like, I, I don't do paid promotions on my channel, but I definitely don't hold it against anyone who does, because it's the way that people can make money and actually create content that's sustainable. Some people only choose products that they themselves specifically used, but they just happen to get paid for it, You know, I think that's fine, each to their own. I think that it's on the individual to be doing research into all of this stuff digging in *** little bit deeper and it's on the content creators to not be scumbag and to be choosing projects that they actually think are worthwhile and not be misleading their audience because the audience puts *** lot of trust in them. So I think it's *** two way street there, but I'll throw it back to, I just wanted to clarify one thing, I want to clarify one thing real quick, which is that kim Kardashian is named in this lawsuit. So our Floyd, Mayweather and paul, Pierce, and at least in my memory of the post that happened at the time, Mayweather and Pierce did not clarify that they were doing *** paid promote. That's one of the key things here. So if you don't say you're doing *** paid promotion, what your, what your audience is going to assume is that this is something you actually believe in and that you're, you're giving it *** personal endorsement based on your own expertise. Um, and so that's, you know, that's *** different level of danger than even *** little hashtag ad, I think goes *** long way versus nothing at all, jen you maybe want to wrap this up, or I know we have to wrap up, but I just want to say quickly the hashtag ad, I believe I stand to be corrected. The hashtag ad rule was born out of the fire festival debacle. And so it will be interesting to see how they debate this hashtag ad when it relates to crypto projects because it was born to, you know, let people know this is *** paid advertisement and do your own research as the people who attended fire festival learned the hard way.

Kim Kardashian has agreed to pay $1.26 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that she promoted a cryptocurrency on Instagram without disclosing she'd been paid $250,000 to do so.The SEC said Monday that the reality TV star and entrepreneur has agreed to cooperate with its ongoing investigation.The SEC said Kardashian failed to disclose that she was paid to publish a post on her Instagram account about EMAX tokens, a crypto asset security being offered by EthereumMax.Kardashian's post contained a link to the EthereumMax website, which provided instructions for potential investors to purchase EMAX tokens."The federal securities laws are clear that any celebrity or other individual who promotes a crypto asset security must disclose the nature, source, and amount of compensation they received in exchange for the promotion," Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC's division of enforcement, said in a prepared statement.Kardashian has agreed to not promote any crypto asset securities for three years.The Associated Press was not immediately able to reach Kardashian for comment.While Kardashian is well known for reality TV, currently appearing on "The Kardashians," she is also a successful businesswoman. Her brands include SKIMS, which has shapewear, loungewear and other products, and a skincare line called SKKN.

Kim Kardashian has agreed to pay $1.26 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that she promoted a cryptocurrency on Instagram without disclosing she'd been paid $250,000 to do so.

The SEC said Monday that the reality TV star and entrepreneur has agreed to cooperate with its ongoing investigation.

The SEC said Kardashian failed to disclose that she was paid to publish a post on her Instagram account about EMAX tokens, a crypto asset security being offered by EthereumMax.

Kardashian's post contained a link to the EthereumMax website, which provided instructions for potential investors to purchase EMAX tokens.

"The federal securities laws are clear that any celebrity or other individual who promotes a crypto asset security must disclose the nature, source, and amount of compensation they received in exchange for the promotion," Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC's division of enforcement, said in a prepared statement.

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File

Kardashian has agreed to not promote any crypto asset securities for three years.

The Associated Press was not immediately able to reach Kardashian for comment.

While Kardashian is well known for reality TV, currently appearing on "The Kardashians," she is also a successful businesswoman. Her brands include SKIMS, which has shapewear, loungewear and other products, and a skincare line called SKKN.