Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Paul Pierce are one of the celebrities accused of leading investors to cryptocurrency “pump and dump” scams.
Celebrities and other defendants have made false or misleading statements about Ethereum Max through social media advertising and other promotional activities, according to a class proceedings filed in the U.S. District Court in Central California last Friday. It has been accused. In addition to the three celebrities, the defendants include the co-founder of the company and others.
In the proceedings, Ethereum Max claims to be “a speculative digital token created by a mysterious group of cryptocurrency developers.” Celebrities have told millions of social media followers to buy cryptocurrencies, but only sell them when prices soar.
According to Filing, New York-based Ryan Hugerich bought EMAX tokens between May 14, 2021 and June 27, 2021 and complained on behalf of himself and others who lost money. I filed a complaint.
Ethereum Max disputed the claim. “The deceptive stories associated with recent claims are full of false information,” said a company spokesman.
Representatives of Kardashian, Mayweather and Pierce did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., who advertised Ethereum Max cryptocurrency last year, is one of the defendants nominated in a lawsuit alleging a “pump and dump” scheme that deceived investors.
Photo:
Tom Pennington / Getty Images
Mayweather advertised Ethereum Max during a boxing match with YouTube celebrity Logan Paul in 2021. Former NBA player and sports commentator Paul Pierce promoted Ethereum Max on his Twitter account in a conflict unrelated to ESPN at the time.
“. @ Espn I don’t need you. I got @ethereum_max I made more money with this cipher in the last month [sic] I worked with everyone in a year, “says Pierce. Tweet..
Kardashian promotes cryptocurrencies on Instagram and has 278 million followers. A 2021 post, a reality show star and entrepreneur, asked followers on the platform to join the Ethereum Max Community, which led to increased criticism from the UK’s financial watchdog.
Charles Randell, head of the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom, said in a September speech that the Keeping Up with the Kardashians was “a financial promotion with the largest audience in history.” He also criticized the disclosed ad, saying Kardashian didn’t have to tell his followers that Ethereum Max was a speculative digital token a month ago.
“I don’t know if this particular token is a fraud,” Randell told the Cambridge International Economic Crime Symposium, according to a copy of his statement posted online. “But social media influencers are regularly paid by scammers to help send out and dump new tokens backed by pure speculation. Some influencers don’t exist at all. We are promoting coins that turned out to be. “
At the time, a representative of Ethereum Max said the Keeping Up with the Kardashians was “aimed to raise awareness of the project and its usefulness.”
Write to Talal Ansari at talal.ansari@wsj.com
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On January 12, 2022, it appeared in the print version as “Kardashian, Pierce Mayweather Sued Over Crypto Loss”.
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