Kim Kardashian has agreed to pay $1.26 million (around Rs. 10 crore) to settle allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission that she was paid $250,000 (around Rs. 2 crore) without disclosing that she promoted cryptocurrency on Instagram.
The SEC said Monday that the reality TV star and entrepreneur have agreed to cooperate with its ongoing investigation.
The SEC said Kardashian failed to disclose that she was paid to publish posts on her Instagram account about the EMAX token, a crypto asset security offered by EthereumMax.
Kardashian’s Instagram post contained a link to the EthereumMax website, which instructed potential investors to purchase EMAX tokens.
“Federal securities laws are clear that any celebrity or other person promoting the security of crypto assets 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. statement,
Kardashian has agreed not to promote any crypto asset securities for three years.
“Kim Kardashian is pleased to have resolved this matter with the SEC. Kardashian has fully cooperated with the SEC from the beginning and is willing to do whatever she can to assist the SEC in this case. She wanted to withdraw the matter to avoid a protracted controversy. Her agreement with the SEC allows her to do so so she can continue with her various business ventures,” Kardashian’s lawyer said in an email.
Kardashian is best known for reality TV, currently appearing on The Kardashians on Hulu, she is also a successful businesswoman. Her brands include SKIMS, which includes shapewear, loungewear and other products, and a skincare line called SKKN.
Cryptocurrencies have caught the attention of Congress. After crypto valuations, dozens of scandals and hundreds of billions of dollars made and lost, a bipartisan proposal last month would hand over the regulatory authority over two popular cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ether, to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Kardashian isn’t the first celebrity to draw the attention of regulators for their involvement in cryptocurrency. In 2018, the agency settled charges against professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and music producer DJ Khaled for failing to disclose payments they received to promote investments in digital currencies.
This year, crypto investors have seen prices plummet and companies’ fortunes and jobs disappear overnight, and some companies have been accused by federal regulators of running illegal securities exchanges.
