The news cycle was abuzz yesterday with two things: cryptocurrency and Kim Kardashian. And a $1.26 million fine.
It all started in June last year, when Kardashian posted a promotion to her Instagram account for the cryptocurrency EthereumMax. The post was an advertisement for which Kardashian was compensated. And while she included a hashtag noting that the post was an ad, that apparently wasn’t enough for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Gurbir S. Grewal, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, stated that “any celebrity or other individual who promotes a crypto asset security must disclose the nature, source and amount of compensation they received in exchange for the promotion.” Kardashian stated that the post was an ad but not how much she had been paid or where it came from. She has been fined a total of $1.6 million — the $250,000 that she received for the ad, plus $10,000 in interest and another $1 million presumably to keep her from doing it again — and must not promote any cryptocurrency for the next three years.
