Don’t let it be said that the SEC is not down with the zoomers. Not only is chair Gary Gensler seemingly gunning for anything crypto-related, but he is also all too happy to spread his regulatory wings over the world of celebrity influencers.
And Gensler is certainly going after the big names. His latest target is none other than uber-influencer Kim Kardashian, whom the SEC charged with having touted crypto asset securities on her Instagram account without telling followers that she had been paid to do so.
According to an October 3 SEC statement, Kardashian published a post about Emax tokens, which were being offered by EthereumMax, and included a link to a website where readers could find instructions on how to buy the tokens. As such, she was touting crypto asset securities, the SEC said, and doing so without disclosing that she had been paid $250,000.
Kardashian agreed the settlement without admitting or denying the SEC's findings.
The Kardashian case is a high-profile example of a current obsession of the SEC – that crypto assets frequently constitute securities and therefore should be treated as such under relevant legislation
Emax, which is built on the Ethereum network but has no business connection with it, hasn’t been the best crypto investment for anyone who was tempted to pile in at around the time of Kardashian’s mid-June 2021 post.