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A former NBA player will pay 1.4 million for illegal promotion of cryptocurrency
New York, Feb 17 (.).- Former NBA player Paul Pierce was fined this Friday by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with 1.4 million dollars for the illegal promotion of the EMAX cryptocurrency, a sanction similar to the one imposed in 2022 for the same reason on the celebrity Kim Kardashian.
The SEC accused the basketball star of promoting EMAX tokens on social networks – a crypto asset security product offered by the EthereumMax company – without announcing how much he had been paid for it, and of making “misleading” statements about that cryptocurrency, according to a statement.
The athlete allegedly received $244,000 in EMAX tokens for encouraging his followers on Twitter (NYSE:) to buy that crypto asset, among other things, he posted a screenshot of an investment account that showed a large portfolio with profits, but his own really “was very inferior”.
Pierce, who neither admits nor denies the allegations, has agreed to settle them by paying a million-dollar fine, making him the latest celebrity to get hurt for jumping on the seemingly lucrative bandwagon of the crypto market, which has recently been rocked by mismanagement scandals. .
The former basketball player also promised not to promote any cryptoactive in the next three years, a measure to which Kardashian is also subject, also accused by the SEC of illegally promoting EMAX on social networks and fined 1.26 million last October.
“This case is yet another reminder to celebrities: They are required by law to disclose to the public who and how much they are being paid” for promotions, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said in the note, who is taking steps to make more control in the sector, especially after the fall of the FTX platform.
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