The Wall Street constable taps him on the knuckles.

Kim Kardashian agreed to pay $1.26 million for praising a cryptocurrency on her Instagram account without mentioning that she was paid to do so, the SEC announced Monday.

A complaint had been filed by investors against the reality TV star, but also against boxer Floyd Mayweather and basketball player Paul Pierce.

The authority accuses Kim Kardashian of having advertised a cryptocurrency asset, EMAX tokens, sold on EthereumMax, failing to indicate that she had been paid $ 250,000 by the platform for this operation.

The fine includes a penalty of 1 million dollars as well as a relief of 260,000 dollars which represents the sum received by Kim Kardashian and interest.

Rapper Kanye West's ex-wife, who agreed to cooperate with the SEC, also pledged not to promote cryptocurrency assets for three years.

Suspicions of "pump and dump" operation

In the offending message that she had published in June 2021, she wrote, all in capital letters: “Do you like cryptos???

This is not financial advice but I am sharing with you what my friends just told me about the EthereumMax token!

»

The authorities suspect the creators of this cryptocurrency of having developed a “pump and dump” operation, a practice which consists of artificially raising the price of a cryptocurrency thanks to Internet buzz, then selling everything at the highest level, causing a crash that ruins small investors who jumped on the bandwagon too late.

“This case is a reminder that when celebrities or influencers promote investment opportunities, including cryptocurrency assets, that doesn't mean those investment products are good for all investors,” Gary Gensler said in a statement. , the boss of the SEC.

Wealth of $1.8 billion

According to Forbes, Kim Kardashian's personal fortune is $1.8 billion.

She has 331 million followers on Instagram.

Already present in the world of make-up and sculpting underwear, she launched the private equity firm SKKY Partners in early September with Jay Simmons.

Other celebrities have been caught in the past by US authorities for illegally promoting cryptocurrencies, including boxer Floyd Mayweather, rap star DJ Khaled, actor Steven Seagal and rapper TI

The virtual currency market, regularly criticized for being a universe of sometimes dubious practices for lack of clear and established regulations, has suffered a vertiginous fall for several months, investors being cautious in the face of volatile assets deemed to be at risk.

This “crypto winter” comes as US regulators seek to step up pressure on several industry players.

In early August, the Treasury Department imposed financial sanctions on the “cryptocurrency mixer” Tornado Cash, accused of having been used to launder more than 7 billion dollars of virtual currency since 2019, including in connection with North Korea.

  • Economy

  • Kim Kardashian

  • Cryptocurrency