Influencer fined $1.3 million for concealing cryptocurrency ad payment
Kim Kardashian has settled with the US Securities and Exchange Commission over an Instagram post about EMAX tokens. For this post, Kardashian received $250,000, but she didn’t reveal in the post that she was getting any money for it.
In the Instagram post, Kardashian wrote to share “what my friends just told me about the EthereumMax token,” CNBC, among others, reports. This post had an #ad and a link to the EthereumMax website. According to the SEC Kardashian broke the law with this post.
“Celebrities or others promoting cryptocurrencies must disclose the nature, source and amount they received in exchange for the promotion,” writes an SEC executive. Kardashian didn’t mention that she got $250,000 for the post. The influencer settles with the regulator and pays $1.26 million. One million of this is the fine; the $260,000 is the amount she got for the mail, plus interest.
The settlement does not mean that Kardashian admits or denies that she was wrong. In addition to the fine, Kardashian was banned from promoting cryptocurrencies in a post for the next three years.